New Mural in Portsmouth Honors Ona Judge, Who Escaped George Washington

A 13-by-15-foot mural by artist Manuel Ramirez has been unveiled on the Portsmouth, New Hampshire waterfront, honoring Ona Judge, an enslaved woman who escaped from George Washington's household in 1796. Commissioned by the Black Heritage Trail of New Hampshire, the work depicts Judge arriving in Portsmouth at age 22, after fleeing while the Washington family ate dinner. Created using historical research, artificial intelligence, and traditional painting, the mural is based on the only surviving physical description of Judge, as no known portraits exist. Judge was born into slavery at Mount Vernon around 1774, served as Martha Washington's personal maid, and escaped after learning she would be given as a wedding gift. With help from Philadelphia's free Black community, she boarded a ship to Portsmouth. Washington spent years trying to recapture her, but she refused to return, married free Black sailor Jack Staines, and raised a family in New Hampshire. Her later interviews provide rare firsthand accounts of slavery during the founding era. The mural restores visibility to a figure long omitted from mainstream history.