Never Caught

Never Caught

Juvenile herstory
"...You are about to encounter a story of bravery and heroism
that will make you think differently about everything you have learned
regarding American history. This is a book about a young woman who,
in the face of great difficulty, did what no one imagined possible.
You are about to meet Ona Judge, a young enslaved woman who was the
human property of two of the most well-known people in the history of
the United States. Ona was enslaved by George and Martha Washington."
Yep, you read that right--the father of our country. Ironically
while he was leading the fight to free the colonies from domination by
England he owned a whole lot of people who did the heavy lifting on
his estate and tended to the personal wants of his family. Ona Judge
was one of the latter. When she was only ten she had to leave the
slave quarters, where she lived with her family, to wait on Martha at
any time of day or night. When George was elected president Ona was
one of the few slaves who was trusted enough to accompany the first
family to their presidential residence--hundreds of miles from her
people at a time when horse and buggy was state of the art
transportation.
Even then under different circumstances Ona might have stayed
with the Washingtons. Only one day Martha needed a wedding gift for a
headstrong, volatile granddaughter. And, hey, back then nothing said
"Good luck in your new life together" quite like a captive human
being. Ona knew what her prospective recipient was like. No way was
she going there! To rescue herself, she had to flee, a very perilous
undertaking with the fugitive slave law in effect.
In Never Caught Erica Armstrong Dunbar and Kathleen Van Cleeve
bring Ona's amazing story to life for young readers. It's a strong
choice for two reasons. It helps children get a feel for what life
was like for kids born into slavery. It also juxtaposes personal
narrative quite neatly with historical happenings.
You might want to read it or the adult version yourself. You'll
probably never see George Washington in quite the same way again. But
you'll discover Ben Franklin to have been much more than a penner of
pithy adages.
On a purrrsonal note, one of the things I'm really enjoying these days
is my phone conversations with my grown kids. Yesterday Adam shared
an observation that I'd like to pass on. He was saying how lucky we
were able to enjoy the big holiday celebrations of Thanksgiving and
Christmas before coronavirus came to town. It would have been so much
harder if the family had been split up then. We can look forward to
getting back together in the future. This morning I started cross
stitching Christmas ornaments. It's an affirmation that we will live
to celebrate future Christmases. Maybe you can do something to get
ready for Christmas or another event you're looking forward to. It
can affirm hope in a very scary time.
Eugene bought practical stuff like hamburger, canned veggies, and cat
food at the store. He also bought freezer pops which are another of
my favorite signs of spring.
I'm making hash browns from scratch to keep some smaller potatoes from
going to waste. With Eugene being the only one working now I am
getting very good at seeing that no food gets thrown out. (Jules)
More cat food! Chicken is always in good taste. My hoomans won't let
me starve. They have their priorities right. (Tobago)
Tobago and Jules Hathaway





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