Thousands of families and students on school field trips visit George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate this of time year, and many will go to the slave memorial. But until 1983, that burial site for enslaved people was virtually unknown and not spotlighted.
Then, Sheila Coates came along with her determination to make sure those buried there were recognized and honored.
Coates grew up in the Leesburg, Virginia, area in the 1940s and ‘50s. She attended segregated schools and faced racism and discrimination.
Her first visit to Mount Vernon was a high school field trip. Coates does not remember learning anything about enslaved people.
“I just remember George Washington, president of our country,” she said. “And I’ve always said he could have been a king.”
Several decades later, Coates formed Black Women United for Action, a service organization aimed at empowering Black women, promoting education and historical research. She made it a goal to honor Mount Vernon’s enslaved people with an annual wreath-laying ceremony at the burial location.
At first, her proposal didn’t go very well.
“They said they don’t even use the word ‘slavery’ here,” she said. “It’s under the rug, you know. Anything. And I was like, ‘I’m not giving up,’” Coates said.
But shortly after that, Mount Vernon’s leadership changed and so did attitudes.
Coates and Black Women United for Action partnered with the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. A memorial was designed and installed. And the annual October wreath-laying ceremony started in 1983 was made permanent thanks to Coates’ persistence.
“It’s been our honor to work with Black Women United for Action and the descendent community to tell that rich, layered tale of the life of the enslaved here at Mount Vernon, and Sheila has been a critical part of that work,” Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association regent Anne Neal Petri said.
A few weeks ago, the association honored Coates with its highest honor — the Pamela Cunningham Medal.
Coates is only the fifth recipient.
“It was such an honor, ‘cause I was receiving it not for me but for all of those that had gone,” she said. “And all I could say was, ‘We’ve done it; we did it.’ What was the ultimate goal? To be inclusive, not separated.”
Inclusive so the story of the enslaved is interwoven with George Washington’s story.
Now, instead of the burial site being hidden among the leaves and trees, a steady stream of Mount Vernon visitors make the memorial an important part of their tour, often bringing their own wreaths to honor the many who lived and worked there.
Coates and Black Women United for Action also helped establish a fellowship at the George Washington Presidential Library to support African American history research.
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