The Ethics of Now with Erica Armstrong Dunbar

Join the Kenan Institute for Ethics and host Adriane Lentz-Smith for a conversation with historian, author, and “The Gilded Age” historical consultant and co-executive producer Erica Armstrong Dunbar on telling the stories of our nation’s complex past.
The Ethics of Now
featuring Erica Armstrong Dunbar
7 p.m.
Friday, September 25, 2026
Durham County Main Library
What does history look like through the eyes of those whose stories are rarely told?
Through her historical writing and work on the HBO series “The Gilded Age,” Erica Armstrong Dunbar offers us portraits of African Americans in the nineteenth century, people as complex and compelling as the times in which they lived. One is the remarkable Ona Judge, who escaped from slavery — and her former owners, George and Martha Washington — when she was twenty years old. Though she lived the rest of her life as a fugitive, Judge was “Never Caught” — despite the Washingtons’ repeated attempts to return her to slavery.
On the 250th anniversary of 1776, Dunbar invites us to consider how a fuller narrative of our past enriches the American story — and our present and future as a nation e pluribus unum, or “out of many, one.”
Event Details:
This event takes place at the Durham County Main Library. Parking is available onsite. A reception and book signing will take place after the hour-long event, and copies of Dunbar’s books “Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge” and “She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman” will be available for purchase, courtesy of Parker & Otis.
Please register for this event on the Durham County Library website: https://durhamcountylibrary.libcal.com/event/16756497
If you have questions about this event, please contact Hillary Train at hillary.train@duke.edu.
Additional Information About the Speaker and Event Sponsors:
Erica Armstrong Dunbar is a historian, professor of African American Studies at Emory University, and main historical consultant and co-executive producer for HBO’s “The Gilded Age.” Her work shines a light on racial injustice, slavery, and gender inequality. She is the author of “Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge,” which was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Nonfiction and received the 2018 Frederick Douglass Book Award.
A startling and eye-opening look into America’s First Family, “Never Caught” tells the story of Ona Judge, George and Martha Washington’s runaway slave who risked it all to escape the nation’s capital and reach freedom. Dunbar gives readers a glimpse into the life of a little-known but powerful figure in American history and the ensuing manhunt led by George Washington, who attempted to use his political and personal contacts to recapture his property.
“Never Caught” is the 2026 Duke Common Experience reading. It is integrated with We The People, a university-wide initiative led by Duke Arts, which marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Additional sponsors for Dunbar’s visit include Duke Libraries, the Office of Undergraduate Education’s Duke Common Experience Program, and the Duke Department of History.