PHILADELPHIA
Thousands of tourists watched last summer as archaeologists, working in the shadow of Independence Hall, unearthed remnants of the home where George Washington lived with his wife and several slaves.
Now, the city’s best-known Colonial-era church is dramatically bringing to light how slaves worshipped alongside parishioners like Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Betsy Ross.
Historians have long known that slaves attended Christ Church and were baptized, married and buried there. But it has not been publicized much in Philadelphia, where all men were declared to be created equal.
“I think it’s the right time in our city’s history, it’s the right time in our nation’s history,” said Neil Ronk, a church historian and senior guide. “Maybe it can spark a discussion.”
Or continue one.
The city’s ties to slavery emerged in 2007 as an estimated 250,000 people witnessed the excavation of a slave passageway in the President’s House, where Washington lived while Philadelphia was the nation’s capital.
