Last updated: May 1, 2024
Place
Information Panel: The Gray Family
NPS / Claire Hassler
Quick Facts
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Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
Selina Gray was born into slavery in December 1823, the daughter of Leonard and Sallie Norris. She learned to read and write as a personal maid for Mary Lee. In the same parlor where the Lees wed, Selina married Thornton Gray, an enslaved stable hand. Together, Selina and Thornton raised eight children - Emma, Annice, Florence, Sarah, Ada, Selina, John, and Harry - in one cramped space of the south slave quarters. After the Lees left Arlington, the Gray family cut through the walls to occupy this entire building until the US Government forced them from their home. Years later, Selena wrote to Mary Lee that the family settled on a few acres in Alexandria.
Image Captions:
Selina posing with two of her daughters. This photograph is a rare glimpse into the lives of enslaved families, whose stories are often missing from the historical record.
Thornton Gray tended the horses and carriages. After the Civil War, he lost his petition to Congress for some of the plantation land at Arlington.
Image Captions:
Selina posing with two of her daughters. This photograph is a rare glimpse into the lives of enslaved families, whose stories are often missing from the historical record.
Thornton Gray tended the horses and carriages. After the Civil War, he lost his petition to Congress for some of the plantation land at Arlington.