Unlike the Confederate statues, which have little historic value, the slave quarters at Decatur House preserve a critical part of American history. Because the slave quarters are included in the public tours of the house (and in this virtual tour during the pandemic-driven closure), the space ensures that the lives of the black residents on Lafayette Square are remembered.
It’s easy for me to say the space is important to preserve, I’m a white historian. My ancestors weren’t enslaved and forced to live and work in these rooms without pay. On the contrary, some of my ancestors enslaved other humans. So how I feel about Decatur House matters far less than how black people feel about it. Enter public historians like Joseph McGill and Michael Twitty who work to save and interpret the dwellings inhabited by enslaved people. They also bring to life the robust lives of their enslaved ancestors, complete with religion, romance, families, culinary traditions and music.
The physical space is essential to understanding this past. Written or oral descriptions are helpful, but the physical space—the architecture, the warped floor boards, the heat in the summer, and the modest furniture that filled the rooms—actually reveals the lived experience of enslaved people that labored at the Decatur House. While I was working at the White House Historical Association, the current custodians of the space in partnership with the National Historic Trust—I welcomed the opportunity to share the rooms with students and visitors, and witnessed how powerful walking through the space can be.
Given the symbolic and real historic value of these sites, they ought to play a prominent role in our current conversation about history and race. Historic sites should embrace the protests and the graffiti, whether on their walls or nearby. The defacing of physical spaces reveals that history is ongoing, ever-present, and always relevant to our current moment.
Most people, whether they are demonstrators, tourists, or even the police and military standing sentry in Lafayette Square, probably don’t realize that the modest cream-colored building contains such a rich historic past. The National Historic Trust is working to add a plaque to the outside of the Decatur House slave quarters that will mark the building as a former home and labor site for enslaved individuals. My former colleagues at the White House Historical Association continue share information about the people that lived inside as part of their Slavery in the President’s Neighborhood initiative.
How powerful would it have been if the graffitied words “Why Do We Have to Keep Telling You Black Lives Matter?” had remained on the building’s walls, rather than have it be painted over, allowing the nation to act like the protests never happened? That would surely capture visitors’ attention and start a dialogue. The demonstrations of the 21st century follow the paths laid by those from generations past; the true erasure would be to pretend that those connections don’t exist at all.