HOOKSETT, N.H. (AP) - A portrayal of a slave who ran away from George and Martha Washington and was never caught is among the events planned for Martin Luther King Jr. Day in New Hampshire.
Ona Judge, who served Martha Washington for most of her young life, slipped away from the president’s official residence in 1796 when the capital was in Philadelphia and boarded a ship as the Washingtons prepared to return to their Mount Vernon, Virginia, plantation house.
With a $10 reward posted for her capture, the 22-year-old Judge knew she had to keep a low profile. She turned to the network of free blacks in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for help.
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Gwendolyn Quezaire-Presutti is portraying Judge at the Hooksett Public Library on Monday.
Concerts, services and discussions also are being held.
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