Content Warning: This guide includes references to slavery, racism, and physical violence and depictions of racist beliefs about Black people.

Ona Judge is born in 1773 to an enslaved woman named Betty and to Andrew Judge—a white, English indentured servant to George Washington. Betty is the property of Martha Washington’s first husband and, upon his death, becomes Martha’s property. Betty meets Andrew when Martha marries George. Both Andrew and Betty are seamstresses, but the nature of their relationship, including whether it is consensual, is unknown.

In June of 1773, Martha’s daughter from her first marriage, Patsy, dies of a seizure. Martha and George are devastated, and Betty likely tries to comfort Martha. Shortly after Patsy’s death, Betty gives birth to Ona.

Ona grows up at Mount Vernon—the estate owned by George Washington. Before he became the country’s first president, George was known as a strong military leader, having fought in the French and Indian War in the 1750s. He spent much of his life expanding Mount Vernon, the farms of which grew tobacco, wheat, and flax and also had livestock. He also owned fisheries at the Potomac River and a distillery. Labor by enslaved people is necessary for the success of the estate; by the time of Ona’s birth in 1773, George owns more than 200 enslaved people.