Center for Women's History
Women’s history is American history. Bring it into your classroom with our new curriculum!
Major support for Women and the American Story provided by
Robert and Mercedes Eichholz Foundation
Curriculum website and learning experience made possible through a grant from
This program is supported as part of the Dutch Culture USA program by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York.
Lead support for New-York Historical's teacher programs provided by
E. C. Perry Photograph Co., Paul Jennings, undated. Photograph. Estate of Sylvia Jennings Alexander.
Resource 7: Paul Jennings’s Account of the British Attack
This extract from the 1865 memoir of Paul Jennings, once enslaved by the Madisons, offers his recollection, more than fifty years later, of the British seizure of Washington City during the War of 1812. It directly challenges the version of events presented by Dolley Madison, including who actually saved the famous George Washington portrait.
