About the Program
Elizabeth Dowling Taylor recounts the life of Paul Jennings, born into slavery in 1799 and a servant to President James Madison. The author reports on Mr. Jennings life as a slave in the White House and his relationship with James and Dolley Madison. Upon gaining his freedom in 1847, Mr. Jennings was involved in the Pearl Affair; the largest, single slave escape ever attempted and authored the first White House memoir, A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison. Elizabeth Dowling Taylor speaks at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.