but george washington park custis wanted maria to be close by. so if you follow my story here, her husband, charles syphax, was not freed. he continued to be a slave. but maria and her two children were freed but were giving 17 acres of property at the south end of arlington estate where they lived free for the rest of their lives. and as a result of having follow-on children, all of them were born free as well. there are a couple of children that are very prominent in the syphax family. very interestingly enough, once these children were freed, the -- they had an opportunity for education. one of the prominent older children, second child, first son of the syphax, is william syphax. we know that he was probably educated in alexandria, arlington area as well as georgetown. he ultimately went to work for the department of the interior in the 1850s. he worked for a number of secretaries of the interior and actually became head messenger for the department of the interior and went on to become the first president of the -- of colored trustees of the

george washington and to celebrate the values and beliefs of the father of the country, the house itself built by slaves. but then you have the family as well, the family relationship. and george washington parke custis in essence had two daughters. one was white, his heiress, she married robert e. lee. one was enslaved. both great granddaughters of martha washington. so in that regard george washington mark custis as a representative of the first first family of the country who spent 55 years of his life promoting and celebrating that, was in essence also representative of another aspect of the history of this country. and the simple truth is the first family in this country was biracial. so we recently reenacted that wedding with descendants of the syphax family in attendance, representing both mariah and charles. there was also another wedding that took place here and that was the wedding of selena norris and thorton gray, also enslaved. selena, a maid in the house, and thornton gray, who worked in the mansion as well. so that was arranged and this wedding took place in this parlor. and selena gray and her family would live in one of the two historic slave quarters that we maintain, that still exi

a personal memorial, to honor the memory of george washington, the father of the country, owned by washington's step grandson, george washington park custis, and in many ways this could be looked at as our first washington monument. first memorial built to honor any president, first structure of any kind built to honor any man like that, and so this house had a fame all to itself, apart from robert e. lee, but then lee married into that family, became part of the washington family, and so when the coming of the civil war happened, and lee was put in a very painful and difficult place in which he had to choose sides, president lincoln wanted him to command federal troops. it was offered to him, but he couldn't fight a war against virginia, his native state, his home and family, as he characterized it. and so he was caught in this terrible dilemma, and ultimately his choice would have a massive impact on the course of the civil war in american history that would follow. it would also lead to the u.s. government taking this home, this plantation away from his family to punish him, and creating arlington national cemetery as both a place to h

but george washington parke custis wanted mariah to be close by. , wasusband, charles syphax not free. but overall you and her children were free but were giving set -- given 17 acres of property at the south end of arlington estate where they lived free the rest of their lives and as a result, all of those children were born free as well. there were a couple children prominent in the syphax family. once these children were free, they had an opportunity for education. one of the prominent older know will you must probably educated in alexandria as well as a georgetown. he ultimately went to work for the department of interior in the 1850's and worked for a number of secretaries of the interior and actually became a head messenger for the department of the interior and went on to become the first of schools in washington, d.c. there were a number of ancestors and descendents of these folks that made a permanent impact on our country. one example would be pressed and lead, a tuskegee airmen. of women thater went on to teach. we know they attended our university. turned aroundch and beca

washington rests his arm on george washington parke custis's shoulder. the boy, symbolic of the next generation, as his hand on the globe, a familiar symbol of empire in paintings and that is turned to north america. window, the potomac points westward. i don't know if you can see the slave in the shadows -- there .re many.'s about who it is maybe it's just an artistic trope. i cannot help but wonder if savage was saying something about, this is all very good, but you have something in the shadows you better deal with. washington knew only one person capable of designing a seat of empire that reflected his vision for the united states. his 1784 proposal for a permanent army corps of engineers gave him the information for constructing the capitol. congress debated the location of the state of askedment in 1789, he president washington for the responsibility of laying "the foundation of the city which is to become the capital of this vast empire." most spokesman for an american empire and its magnificent its glory reflect wanted something like this -- for

was a widow with two children when she married george washington in january of 1759. 10 years before, martha married her first husband. daniel park custis. four children were born to the marriage with two dying at a young age into surviving. daniel himself died in 1757, leaving martha a young widow. her surviving children, her son jackie and a daughter martha notice patsy to the family were then adopted by george washington and raised as his own. in the spring of 1773, 19-year-old jackie announced his engagement to 15-year-old eleanor talbot. they were married the following year, linking the custis family to the calvert of maryland. jackie and eleanor had seven children, four of which survived. martha who in 1776, i will focus on as the matriarch of the peter family, born in in 1777 given -- 1777. room atas born in the mount vernon on december 31, 1777 and she is the only one of the four grandchildren to be born at mount vernon. upon hearing news of her birth, george washington wrote to his stepson jackie congratulating him on the birth of another daughter. less than three years later jackie custis died in november , 1781 and the childr

arlington house was built begin in 1802 by a gentleman named george washington parke custis. he was the grandson of martha washington. he was essentially raised by george and martha as his parents. his father died when he was very young. he was raised at mount vernon and saw george washington and martha washington as basically his parents. he built the home begin in 1882 as a memorial and home but a memorial to our nation's first president. he had one daughter who survived to adulthood, mary, and that daughter mary married a young u.s. army officer, robert e. lee, and that is how robert e. lee comes into this picture. again, this is arlington house, the robert e. lee memorial. it has his name but there is so much more than went on here than just robert e. lee. >> when i first came to this town a long time ago, i referred to this as the custis lee mansion. >> it was known as that for quite some time. it was established as a memorial, a historic home in 1925 by congress, then became part of the national parks service in the early 1930s. but it was an act of congress in 1955 that