Women in George Washington’s World

National Archives Museum
Online

George Washington lived in an age of revolutions, and these revolutions affected American women in profound ways. Although Washington often operated in male-dominated arenas, he participated in complex and meaningful relationships with women from across society. Women in George Washington’s World highlights some of the women—Black and White, free and enslaved—whom Washington knew. These women are chronicled through their own experiences and identities, revealing the lives of a diverse group of women, including plantation mistresses and enslaved workers, Loyalists and Patriots, poets and socialites, as well as mothers, wives, and sisters. Although usually not on battlefields or in government offices, women made choices and acted in ways that affected their own, their families’, and the nation’s future. Co-editors George W. Boudreau, historian of early Anglo-America and public history, and Charlene Boyer Lewis, professor of history, Kalamazoo College, will discuss their book with Lorri M. Glover, professor of history, Saint Louis University. 

July 4th at the National Archives is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of John Hancock, AARP, and Dykema.