George �鶹��Ƶ

The un-forgotten founder: How George �鶹��Ƶ’s legacy lives on

Sarah Holland — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 19:21:05 +0000

The un-forgotten founder: How George �鶹��Ƶ’s legacy lives on Sarah Holland Wed, 12/10/2025 - 14:21

“That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society...namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty...pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.”

The Virginia Declaration of Rights, penned by George �鶹��Ƶ IV, begins with this bold proclamation. It’s a familiar opening: the Declaration of Independence, arguably the more famous document between the two, reads, “we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Yet George �鶹��Ƶ’s name isn’t on the Constitution, despite his obvious influence. The first 3-D depiction of him in the United States wasn’t erected until 1996, on �鶹��Ƶ’s Fairfax Campus. He is considered the “Forgotten Founder.”

Now, on George �鶹��Ƶ’s 300th birthday, we come with a question: What is a legacy? What does it mean to be remembered?

Photo by Andani Munkaila/Office of University Branding

George �鶹��Ƶ, the man, was born on December 11, 1725, in present-day Fairfax County, Virginia. His home, Gunston Hall, sits on the Potomac River less than 20 miles southeast of �鶹��Ƶ’s Fairfax Campus.

From drafting Virginia's first constitution and the Virginia Declaration of Rights to declaring it the “Commonwealth of Virginia” instead of a state, �鶹��Ƶ built the foundation of the place �鶹��Ƶ would first call its home. And his influence extends far beyond the commonwealth’s borders: his Virginia Declaration of Rights is said to have influenced the United States Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, as well as human rights declarations across the globe.

At the “The Un-Forgotten Founder,” an event hosted Dec. 8 by the Law and Economics Center at the Scalia Law School, panelists examined the complicated legacy of a man who, they believe, was unconcerned with how he might be remembered. He did not leave behind troves of primary sources as other founding fathers did; he stayed steadfast in his refusal to sign the Constitution because it did not include a Bill of Rights; he had no alliances or allegiances to any one school of thought.

Much of �鶹��Ƶ’s life is hidden in the gaps between a small pool of primary sources. And in those gaps, we find echoes of a complicated and conflicted legacy: His firm pronouncement of inalienable rights for “all men” and rejection of the international slave trade did not extend to those enslaved people of Gunston Hall, for example.

Intellectual curiosity was one of �鶹��Ƶ’s defining characteristics. And it is in the complexities of �鶹��Ƶ’s life and legacy that we see the echoes of the founding father most strongly. That history becomes a pathway through which students can wrestle with big ideas, ask complex questions, and learn how to sit with contradiction and juxtaposition.

“The limited sources we had on �鶹��Ƶ were an opportunity to use him and his legacy as a teaching tool, to help students learn and engage critically with the complexities of the past,” said George Oberle, director of the Center for �鶹��Ƶ Legacies at �鶹��Ƶ. In fact, the project that formed the foundation for the Center for �鶹��Ƶ Legacies was a student-directed summer project: “The Enslaved Children of George �鶹��Ƶ," which also inspired the Enslaved People of George �鶹��Ƶ installation near his statue on Wilkins Plaza on the Fairfax Campus.

Because this is where the real learning begins for George �鶹��Ƶ students. That insatiable thirst for knowledge, the unwillingness to accept what is simply because that is how it has always been: These same things that motivated �鶹��Ƶ to pen the Virginia Declaration of Rights continue to push our students to new heights. To ask hard questions and to be unafraid of the complexities of the answers is how �鶹��Ƶ prepares its students to tackle the grand challenges of the 21st century.

Much has changed since �鶹��Ƶ’s signature dried on those documents that shaped the future of the United States of America. Stepping into a �鶹��Ƶ classroom in 2025, the tableau unfolds: a commuter student from Fairfax sitting next to an international student, speaking to a U.S. Army veteran with a 20-year career who is working on a presentation with a first-generation college student.

We can’t know what future �鶹��Ƶ envisioned when he penned the opening line in 1776—and who he believed deserved that future. But that’s the thing about legacy and history: Each new generation gets to look at the evidence with a fresh perspective. And with the groundwork laid by �鶹��Ƶ in 1776, �鶹��Ƶ has become a place where “all men” means everyone is given the opportunity to embrace intellectual curiosity and create a legacy of their own.

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

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Campus News

George �鶹��Ƶ

Center for �鶹��Ƶ Legacies

Antonin Scalia Law School

Dive deep into history with the Center for �鶹��Ƶ Legacies

From archaeology to artistic representations, �鶹��Ƶ students help reveal the stories of the enslaved at Gunston Hall

Mariam Aburdeineh — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 21:55:27 +0000

From archaeology to artistic representations, �鶹��Ƶ students help reveal the stories of the enslaved at Gunston Hall Mariam Aburdeineh Wed, 02/15/2023 - 16:55

In writing the Virginia Declaration of Rights, U.S. Founding Father George �鶹��Ƶ IV took a stand for individual rights. His ardent defense would later inform the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution’s Bill of Rights—documents critical for securing liberties.

But a challenging irony rests in �鶹��Ƶ’s words versus his actions.

“There’s this rather profound discomfort for us in reading about George �鶹��Ƶ saying, we don’t want to be slaves to the British government, when he’s enslaving other people,” said Rebecca Martin, director of education and guest experiences at Gunston Hall, the historic home of George �鶹��Ƶ IV.

�鶹��Ƶ called slavery a slow poison that contaminates the country, Martin said, yet he kept hundreds of people in bondage.

The Enslaved People of George �鶹��Ƶ Memorial on the Fairfax Campus. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

Exploring a Complicated History

The complex history of �鶹��Ƶ’s namesake is something the institution has explored for some time.

In 2016, �鶹��Ƶ students, mentored by faculty, explored the little-known slave-holding legacy of the university’s namesake, which led to the creation of the Enslaved People of George �鶹��Ƶ Memorial on the Fairfax Campus.

Artifacts found in the pit of a slave dwelling at Gunston Hall, including a bottle seal with George �鶹��Ƶ's initials and the date "1760," a cowrie shell from the Caribbean, and pieces of petrified wood. Photo by Mariam Aburdeineh.

A group of students also supported Gunston Hall in eventually finding the dwellings of the enslaved when they dug square pits at 20-foot intervals to the east of the mansion in 2000, said Gunston Hall archaeologist David Shonyo. In 2013, when Shonyo was trying to find these dwellings, he dug farther down at a spot the students recorded as having darker soil, charcoal and artifacts.

“Thanks to the careful record keeping of students years before, I was able to almost immediately find what we now call the East Yard Quarter,” Shonyo said. “I found what turned out to be a pit dug into the floor of a slave dwelling that had been used as a receptacle for household refuse.”

Bringing Their Stories to Life

Bringing narratives of the enslaved people to the forefront is ongoing. Last year, senior painting major Katherine Ashby was commissioned to create life-size portraits of George �鶹��Ƶ IV and other people who lived at Gunston Hall, including some of the people held in slavery there.

“One of the challenges of working in a historic house museum is helping visitors to understand that spaces which today seem quiet and pristine were once bustling and full of life,” said Kate Steir, curator at Gunston Hall. “Katherine’s illustrations help to do that very important work.”

“I’ve had visitors tell me that [Ashby’s] figures draw them into the spaces and help visual learners who previously struggled to imagine the full range of people who lived and worked at Gunston Hall in the 18th century,” Steir said.

�鶹��Ƶ student Katherine Ashby was commissioned to create life-sized portraits of those who lived at Gunston Hall. Photo by Cristian Torres.

The excavated artifacts and Ashby’s portraits will help bring a fuller narrative of Gunston Hall to life, and support Gunston Hall’s East Yard Project, which will include recreating the quarters where the enslaved lived.

“It’s essential to tell the true, honest and full history of Gunston Hall and the people that were here, and to provide humanity and respect to the enslaved,” said Scott Stroh, executive director of Gunston Hall. “In rebuilding [the quarters], we’ll create some structures we know would have been located here and for the first time really create a tangible presence.”

Stroh said The East Yard project, which will begin in March 2023, will include more archaeology, as well as scholarship to expand knowledge of the enslaved community.

A rendering of the East Yard Project. Courtesy of Gunston Hall.

For Black History Month, we went to Gunston Hall to learn not only about the �鶹��Ƶ family, but some of the stories of the enslaved:

Penny, from the Enslaved People of George �鶹��Ƶ Memorial. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

Penny

“Penny was a young girl when she came to Gunston Hall. She was enslaved in Maryland at Ann �鶹��Ƶ [George �鶹��Ƶ IV’s first wife]’s childhood home plantation. Anne �鶹��Ƶ’s father essentially gave her as a gift to his granddaughter [Nancy �鶹��Ƶ], who was about 10 years old. We believe Penny was about 10 when she was forced to leave her family and come here to have her life and her fate controlled by another 10-year-old girl.

“She lived with Nancy �鶹��Ƶ, the oldest daughter, for the rest of her life. She never married. She traveled with Nancy. When Nancy did marry, she did the work of a lady’s maid.” —Kate Steir

Dick

“Dick was enslaved in the house and was in liveried uniform, waiting on people and doing various tasks. We do know that he was present for a lot of conversations between people like George �鶹��Ƶ and George Washington, and George �鶹��Ƶ and James Madison. They were talking about freedom and the revolution. We also know that during this process, the British government offered freedom to anyone who was enslaved who ran away and fought for them.

“Even if people who were enslaved weren’t able to formally vote, they had a sense of their own politics and a sense of ways they could participate, either through physically moving themselves or choosing to stay.” —Kate Steir

Nell

“Nell was enslaved by the �鶹��Ƶs and was trained as a midwife. These specialized skills allowed her to help other women and to earn money. Nell tended to enslaved women when they gave birth. She even traveled to neighboring plantations to help. But babies weren’t born every day. At other times, she likely cared for the �鶹��Ƶ children.” —Courtesy of Gunston Hall

James, from the Enslaved People of George �鶹��Ƶ Memorial. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

James

“James was a man of mixed race held in slavery by the �鶹��Ƶs. He served as George �鶹��Ƶ’s manservant or valet, and was likely on duty around the clock. James’s work likely kept him in the mansion most of the week and away from his family. He was probably required to accompany George on his long trips away from Gunston Hall.” —Courtesy of Gunston Hall

Poll

“Poll spent her entire life in slavery at Gunston Hall. She had at least one child. His name was Henry. We know that Poll worked in the mansion because George �鶹��Ƶ described her as ‘House Poll.’” —Courtesy of Gunston Hall

Joe

“Joe, an enslaved man, may have worked in the house, the kitchen yard, and the garden, moving from one space to another as he was needed. Perhaps his tasks included delivering firewood to the mansion’s grand rooms, weeding and watering in the garden, and transferring vegetables from the garden to the kitchen.” —Courtesy of Gunston Hall