From The Chair

“Our ancestors are more than names written in historical records. They were people who lived, loved, endured, persevered, created families, built communities, and left legacies that continue through us. It is our responsibility as descendants to speak their names, preserve their stories, honor their humanity, and ensure that their rightful place in history is never forgotten.”

My name is Linneall Naylor, and I am deeply honored to introduce myself as a genealogist, author, historian, descendant of the enslaved community of George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and Acting Chair of The League of Descendants of the Enslaved at Mount Vernon.

The work that I undertake is both professional and profoundly personal. My interest in genealogy and history is rooted in a desire to understand the lives of those who came before us and to ensure that their experiences are preserved with dignity, accuracy, and respect. As a descendant of people connected to the enslaved community at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, I recognize that I am not simply studying history from a distance. I am connected to that history through family, ancestry, memory, and legacy.

That connection has helped shape my commitment to genealogy, historical research, writing, education, preservation, and descendant advocacy. I believe there is tremendous power in discovering an ancestor’s name, reconstructing a family relationship, locating a historical document, or uncovering a story that has remained untold for generations.

For descendants of enslaved communities in particular, genealogy can become much more than the creation of a family tree. It can be an act of historical restoration—reconnecting families to people whose identities, relationships, accomplishments, and humanity were too often minimized or omitted from traditional historical narratives.

My Work as a Genealogist

As a genealogist, I am passionate about researching and documenting family histories and helping connect generations through historical records and ancestral research.

Genealogical research requires patience, persistence, careful examination, and an understanding that every document may contain another piece of a family's story. Names appearing in census records, wills, inventories, birth and death records, marriage documents, property records, family papers, institutional archives, oral histories, and other historical materials can provide important pathways toward reconstructing lives and relationships.

When researching enslaved communities, this work carries an additional responsibility. Enslaved individuals were frequently documented as property rather than as complete human beings with identities, families, hopes, relationships, skills, and personal histories. Therefore, genealogical research can help restore something that historical systems attempted to take away: identity.

Every name recovered matters. Every family connection matters. Every story preserved matters.

My goal is to continue researching, documenting, and sharing these histories so descendants and future generations have greater opportunities to understand where they come from and the people upon whose shoulders they stand.

My Work as an Author and Historian

As an author and historian, I believe that history must be presented with honesty, depth, humanity, and respect for the individuals whose experiences created that history.

Writing provides an opportunity to transform historical evidence into narratives that people can understand and connect with. Through my work, I seek to bring attention to stories that deserve greater recognition, particularly the histories of African American families and enslaved communities whose experiences have not always received appropriate attention within the broader telling of American history.

Historical research is not simply about examining what happened. It also requires us to ask important questions: Who was remembered? Who was overlooked? Whose perspective was preserved? Whose voice was absent? And what can we do today to create a more complete historical record?

My purpose is not to replace one historical narrative with another. Rather, it is to broaden the historical narrative so that the experiences of all people—including enslaved men, women, and children and their descendants—are recognized as essential components of our shared American history.

My Connection to Mount Vernon

Being a descendant of the enslaved community of George Washington’s Mount Vernon gives this work extraordinary personal significance.

Mount Vernon is recognized throughout the United States and around the world as the home of George Washington. However, understanding Mount Vernon's complete history also requires recognizing the lives and labor of the hundreds of enslaved people who lived and worked on the estate during Washington's lifetime. Their stories are an essential part of the history of Mount Vernon and of the United States.

These individuals were skilled workers, agricultural laborers, cooks, seamstresses, carpenters, craftsmen, domestic workers, parents, grandparents, spouses, children, and members of interconnected families and communities. Behind historical records were human beings whose lives possessed meaning and whose descendants continue their legacies today.

As a descendant, I feel a profound responsibility to help preserve those histories—not only for my own family, but also as part of a larger commitment to ensuring that descendant communities have opportunities to participate meaningfully in how the stories of their ancestors are researched, interpreted, commemorated, and shared.

Leadership as Acting Chair

I am especially honored to serve as Acting Chair of The League of Descendants of the Enslaved at Mount Vernon.

Serving in this leadership capacity carries both an honor and a responsibility. The League represents descendants whose family histories are connected to people who experienced enslavement at Mount Vernon, and our collective voices provide an invaluable connection between historical scholarship and living legacy.

As Acting Chair, I am committed to providing leadership grounded in integrity, transparency, collaboration, respect, historical preservation, and descendant engagement.

My role includes supporting the League's continued development, encouraging meaningful participation among descendants, strengthening communication, helping establish productive partnerships, and ensuring that our work remains centered upon honoring our ancestors.

I also recognize that leadership is not simply about holding a title. Leadership means listening, serving, building relationships, protecting the integrity of an organization's mission, and creating opportunities for others to contribute their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives.

I want descendants to know that their voices matter. I want younger generations to understand that this history belongs to them as well. And I want institutions working with descendant communities to understand the importance of authentic collaboration, mutual respect, responsible stewardship, and meaningful descendant participation.

My Vision for The League

My vision for The League of Descendants of the Enslaved at Mount Vernon is one of continued growth, unity, scholarship, preservation, education, and collaboration.

I hope to help strengthen the League as an organization that connects descendants not only to the history of Mount Vernon, but also to one another.

Among my goals are expanding opportunities for genealogical research; encouraging descendants to document their family histories; strengthening relationships with museums, archives, universities, libraries, educators, historians, genealogists, and cultural organizations; supporting educational initiatives; increasing public awareness; and creating opportunities for younger generations to become involved in preserving their heritage.

Another important priority is ensuring that descendants are not viewed simply as subjects of historical research. Descendants should be participants, collaborators, contributors, and leaders in the preservation and interpretation of their ancestral histories.

Our family knowledge, oral traditions, photographs, documents, memories, genealogical research, and lived experiences can contribute valuable dimensions to the historical record. Meaningful collaboration between descendants and historical institutions can therefore help produce richer, more accurate, and more human-centered interpretations of history.

Education and the Next Generation

One of the greatest responsibilities we have is preparing future generations to carry this work forward.

Young people should have opportunities to learn that African American history is not separate from American history—it is an essential part of American history. They should know the names of the people who came before them, understand the sacrifices their ancestors made, and recognize the strength required to survive circumstances designed to deny people freedom and self-determination.

Most importantly, they should understand that their ancestors' stories did not end with enslavement. Those stories continued through emancipation, Reconstruction, migration, education, entrepreneurship, military service, community building, family formation, faith, civic engagement, professional achievement, and countless other experiences.

The descendants living today are part of that continuing story. Through education and historical preservation, we can ensure that future generations inherit not simply a record of hardship, but also a legacy of strength, perseverance, family, achievement, resistance, survival, and hope.

Preservation, Partnership, and Responsibility

Preserving history requires partnership.

I welcome opportunities to collaborate with fellow descendants, genealogists, historians, museums, educational institutions, archives, researchers, preservation organizations, community leaders, and others who share a commitment to responsible historical interpretation.

These partnerships should be built upon mutual respect and an understanding that descendants possess an important relationship to the histories being interpreted.

When institutions and descendant communities work together thoughtfully, we can create opportunities for research, exhibitions, public programs, commemorations, publications, educational resources, and historical initiatives that recognize both scholarly evidence and descendant perspectives.

The ultimate goal should always be to protect historical integrity while restoring humanity to the people whose lives we seek to understand.

My Continuing Commitment

My journey as a genealogist, author, historian, descendant, and leader continues to evolve.

There is still much to discover. There are records waiting to be examined, family connections waiting to be established, stories waiting to be written, and names waiting to be spoken again.

I remain committed to doing this work with humility and determination while honoring the responsibility entrusted to our generation.

I want my work to contribute to something greater than myself. I want descendants to feel connected to their ancestry. I want historical institutions to recognize the importance of descendant voices. I want researchers to continue asking difficult and meaningful questions. I want educators to have resources that allow them to teach a fuller history. And I want future generations to inherit a historical record that tells them not only that their ancestors existed—but who they were.

Closing Statement

“I do not simply research history—I am connected to it, I carry it, and I have a responsibility to help preserve it. The people who were enslaved at Mount Vernon were more than entries in inventories, records, and documents. They were mothers and fathers, husbands and wives, children and grandparents, workers and artisans, families and communities. They possessed names, identities, abilities, dreams, relationships, and an enduring humanity that slavery could never erase.

As a genealogist, author, historian, descendant, and Acting Chair of The League of Descendants of the Enslaved at Mount Vernon, I remain committed to speaking their names, preserving their histories, strengthening descendant voices, and ensuring that their stories occupy their rightful place within the American narrative.

We are the continuation of their stories. We carry their legacy forward. And through research, education, preservation, collaboration, and remembrance, we will ensure that the lives of our ancestors are not forgotten, but honored and remembered for generations yet to come.”

With respect, purpose, and dedication,

Linneall Naylor