Media
I believe in scholarly accessibility and the importance of sharing history with a larger world. My appearances in several documentaries, including PBS’s The Abolitionists, my radio interviews, and my written work in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New York Times speak to my beliefs. I am a scholar who writes for the academy and for larger general audiences.
New York Times
"George Washington Slave Catcher"
The Nation
"Washington's NEw African-American Museum Shows How Black History Shaped the American Experience"
Process: a blog for American History
Roots Miniseries Review
Press Mentions
Erica Armstrong Dunbar, the author of “Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge,” at George Washington’s estate in Mount Vernon, Va. Justin T. Gellerson for The New York Times
The New York Times
"In Search of the Slave Who Defied George Washington"
Author: Jennifer Schuessler
Essence
Section: Patrik's Picks
Author: PAtrik Henry Bass
Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge is featured on page 38 in the February 2017 Hidden Figures edition of Essence magazine in the section "History, Her Stories, & Future Thinkers: A Roundup of the Best Black Heritage Reads from Experts and Exquisite Authors" by Patrik Henry Bass.
Illustration by David Wilson for the Boston Globe
Boston Globe
"Saga of slave who escaped from the Washingtons and lived on the run"
Author: Kate Tuttle
Broad Street Review
"A life of Resistance"
Author: Alaina Mabaso
Photo by ED HILLE / Staff Photographer Philly.com
Philly.com
"Meet the slave who escaped from George Washington's Philly mansion and was never caught"
Author: Samantha Melamed
At the President's House on Independence Mall, local author, historian and professor Erica Armstrong Dunbar, who spent eight years chasing the elusive story of Oney Judge, a slave of Martha and George Washington's who escaped from here with help from free blacks.
USA Today
"A slave’s flight from our first president"
Author: Matt Damsker
Paste Magazine
"Erica Armstrong Dunbar Talks Never Caught, the True Story of George Washington's Runaway Slave"
AuThor: Lucas Iberico Lozada
The Charlotte Observer
"Ona Judge: The female slave George Washington could not catch"
Author: Dannye Romine Powell
nhmagazine.com
"An Unsung Heroine Has Her Day: A new book tells a little-known slave story"
author: Rick Broussard
Black Perspectives
"Never Caught: A New Book on George Washington’s Pursuit of His Runaway Slave"
Author: Ibram X. Kendi
The Junto
"Guest Review: Never Caught : Ona Judge, the Washingtons, and the Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave"
Author: Jessica PArr
Guest reviewer Shana L. Haines is an Assistant Professor of English at Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth, Virginia. She is currently a Ph.D student in American Studies at William and Mary focusing on Race, Law, and Literature. She has her J.D. from Boston University School of Law and her Masters in British and American Literature from Hunter College.
Men's JOurnal
The 7 Best Books of February
Author: Michael Schaub
New York Post
"George Washington Almost Broke the Law trying to recapture his freed slave"
Author: Ron Hogan
Pacific Standard
"Shelf Help: Never Caught: Ona Judge, the Washingtons, and the Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave"
Author: Peter C. Baker
Los Angeles Times
Author: Greg Braxton
"New TV, stage and film projects are looking at slavery with a bold new emphasis on empowerment"
CNN
Author: John Blake
What 'Lincoln' misses and another Civil War film gets right
TV/Radio/podcast
Tavis Smiley Show
The historian, professor, author discusses her new book NEVER CAUGHT: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge.
Erica Armstrong Dunbar is Professor of Black American Studies and History at the University of Delaware. She has recently participated in several documentaries, including “Philadelphia: The Great Experiment” and “The Abolitionists,” an American Experience production on PBS. In 2011, Professor Dunbar was appointed the first director of the Program in African American History at the Library Company of Philadelphia. She has been the recipient of Ford, Mellon, and SSRC fellowships and most recently has been named an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer. Her first book, A Fragile Freedom: African American Women and Emancipation in the Antebellum City was published by Yale University Press in 2008. Dunbar’s most recent book, Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge was released on February 7, 2017.
Ben Franklin's World
Episode 137: "Erica Dunbar, The Washingtons' Runaway Slave, Ona Judge"
TLC
"Who Do you Think you Are"
Julie Bowen learns how her ancestors fought to end slavery
Actress Julie Bowen reads a document describing how her ancestors fought to end slavery, and how their actions relate back to today.
NMAAHC
National Museum of African American History and Culture (February 17, 2017)
University of Delaware professor of Black American Studies and History was invited by the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture to discuss her book, "Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge
C-SPAN
Never Caught (February 15,2017)
Professor Erica Armstrong Dunbar talked about her book Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge, in which she recounts the life of Ona Judge, a slave owned by George and Martha Washington, whose escape initiated a manhunt ordered by the first president.
TV ONE
NEws One NOw (February 14,2017)
Author/Historian Erica Dunbar discusses her new book "Never Caught"
wbur
Boston's NPR New's Station: "Never Caught: How One Of George Washington's Slaves Escaped To Freedom"
Here & Now's Meghna Chakrabarti talks with historian Erica Armstrong Dunbar (@ericaadunbar), author of a new book on Ona Judge, "Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit Of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge."
WMC Live
Women's Media Center Live With Robin Morgan
WNYC
The Takeway: "The Fugutive Slave Who Eluded George Washington
What does it mean to be free?
That's a question explored in the new book, "Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge."
WHYY Public Media
"Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s ‘Never Caught’"
WURD Radio
The Nick TaliafeRro Show
"Echoes of Slavery Era" in reaction to Ferguson