More Than Decoration: What Montpelier's Objects Reveal About Power and Slavery

What can a bird's nest, a set of porcelain ice cream vases, and a portrait of Confucius tell us about the early American republic? In this episode, host Dr. Katie Crawford-Lackey sits down with Dr. Lisa Goff, Associate Professor of English and American Studies at the University of Virginia and former director of its Institute for Public History, to explore how historians read objects as evidence.Lisa walks us through the furnishings, art, and tableware inside James and Dolly Madison's Montpelier home — from European landscape paintings and portraits of foreign rulers to Dolly's elaborate porcelain ice cream service — and what they reveal about the Madisons' global ambitions, Dolly's political skill as a hostess, and the enslaved labor that made it all possible. We talk about the dining room as a stage for both diplomacy and denial, the archaeology behind the mansion's restoration, and the objects enslaved individuals at Montpelier owned and chose for themselves. Lisa also previews her forthcoming book, Stories in the Soil: Recovering Black and White Histories at James Madison's Montpelier, out this April.