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Ulysses Simpson Grant: Politics and Government\Cabinet member\Secretary of War
Ulysses Simpson Grant: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Civil War
Ulysses Simpson Grant: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\General
Ulysses Simpson Grant: Politics and Government\President of US
Ulysses Simpson Grant: Congressional Gold Medal
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.82.34
Exhibition Label
As this print made shortly after the Civil War demonstrates, Ulysses S. Grant, Julia Grant, and their children Fred, Buck, Nellie, and Jesse had achieved a remarkable level of fame before they even entered the White House. But some members of their household remained invisible. Raised on a farm outside of St. Louis, Missouri, that was worked by about thirty enslaved people, Julia Boggs Dent received a chilly welcome when she married into the staunchly abolitionist Grant family. A formerly enslaved woman who worked for the family later recalled that the general “wanted to give his wife’s slaves their freedom as soon as he was able.”
Having relied upon enslaved servants for most of her life, Julia Grant had only supervisory experience with cooking and baking. When as first lady she was asked to contribute a recipe to a charity cookbook, she submitted a friend’s recipe for chicken gumbo.
Como lo muestra esta imagen creada poco después de la Guerra Civil, Ulysses S. Grant, Julia Grant y sus hijos Fred, Buck, Nellie y Jesse tenían ya amplia fama antes de poner pie en la Casa Blanca. Pero otros miembros del entorno doméstico permanecieron invisibles. Julia Boggs Dent se crio en una granja en las afueras de San Luis, Misuri, donde laboraban unas 30 personas esclavizadas, y cuando se integró a la familia Grant, firmes abolicionistas, tuvo una acogida poco entusiasta. Según recordó una esclava que trabajaba para la familia, el general “quería dar la libertad a los esclavos de su esposa tan pronto pudiera”.
Teniendo sirvientes esclavos gran parte de su vida, la experiencia de Julia Grant en la cocina se limitaba a supervisar. Cuando era primera dama le pidieron que aportara a un libro de cocina para un proyecto de caridad, y envió una receta de gumbo de pollo que le dio una amiga.