Narratives of The Enslaved & The Free

Novelist, painter, and puppeteer George Hagen presents “Narratives of the Enslaved & the Free.” Using shadow puppets, Hagen’s short film “Jupiter Washington, Carpenter” (2022) tells the tale of an enslaved man on the Washington family plantation in Virginia in the 1730s. It’s a fictional tale; Jupiter is a composite of people who existed on the boyhood farm of George Washington. Additionally, Hagen will discuss the real enslaved person Sam Anderson who was freed when Washington died, but he couldn’t leave because his wife and children were still enslaved by Martha Washington, so he proceeded to work to buy back his family. These two tales give insight into American enslavement, those who were enslaved, and George Washington, enslaver and first president of the United States.