Summary: <p>In May 1796, <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ona-judge/">Ona Judge</a>, Martha Washington’s enslaved maidservant, freed herself by walking out of the Washington’s Philadelphia home. She had learned that Martha intended to give her away as a wedding present to <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/elizabeth-parke-custis-law/">Elizabeth Parke Custis</a>, her eldest granddaughter. Judge quietly slipped out of the house one evening, boarded a ship, and fled to New Hampshire. She lived there for the rest of her life. Despite their best efforts, the Washingtons were never able to recapture her.</p> <p>On today’s episode, Ona Judge tells her own story. Library Research Fellow <a href="http://www.mssheila.org/">Sheila Arnold</a> joins Jim Ambuske in character as Ona Judge to give voice to her life. Arnold is a historic character interpreter who performs as many historical figures, including Ona Judge and <a href="https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/madam-cj-walker">Madame CJ Walker</a>, an African American entrepreneur and businesswoman who was one of the wealthiest self-made women in early 20th century America.</p> <p>During the first half of today’s show, Ambuske interviews Arnold as Ona Judge, as she might have been in the last years of her life.</p> <p>He then talks to Arnold herself about historic character interpretation and the powerful ways that performing as a formerly enslaved person can build bridges between communities.</p> <p><strong>About Our Guest:</strong></p> <p>Sheila Arnold currently resides in Hampton, VA. She is a Professional Storyteller, Character Interpreter and Teaching Artist. Through her company, <a href="http://www.mssheila.org/"><em>History’s Alive!</em></a><em>,</em> Sheila has provided storytelling programs, historic character presentations, Christian monologues, dramatic/creative writing workshops, professional development for educators and inspirational/motivational speeches at schools, churches, libraries, professional organizations and museums, in 41 states since 2003.</p> <p><strong>About Our Host:</strong></p> <p>Jim Ambuske, Ph.D. leads the <a href="https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/">Center for Digital History</a> at the Washington Library. A historian of the American Revolution, Scotland, and the British Atlantic World, Ambuske graduated from the University of Virginia in 2016. He is a former Farmer Postdoctoral Fellow in Digital Humanities at the University of Virginia Law Library. At UVA Law, Ambuske co-directed the<a href="http://archives.law.virginia.edu/catalogue/"> 1828 Catalogue Project</a> and the <a href="http://scos.law.virginia.edu/">Scottish Court of Session Project</a>. He is currently at work on a book about emigration from Scotland in the era of the American Revolution as well as a chapter on Scottish loyalism during the American Revolution for a volume to be published by the University of Edinburgh Press.</p>
