George Washington

George Washington worked as a landscaper and laborer on Western Campus. Washington was killed in a rushed encounter with teachers at the Western Female Seminary during February of 1868. Before he was killed, Washington worked as a landscaper and laborer on the school’s grounds. The existing records (of which there is an informal school history and a mention of Washington during a 1868 Board of Trustees Meeting) describe him as a “light colored man, tall and muscular” who was a “good natured, clever kind of fellow.” Washington was Black in a predominantly White county, and though he seemingly served the school over a number of years, the only institutionally-kept evidence of his life is centered around his death and accused crime. Though his death is repeatedly described as a “tragedy,” the inquest immediately following his death was the subject of popular scrutiny by Oxford community members, and Washington himself is often referred to only as the “thief.”