Descendants Letter of Commitment

Descendants gather in front of Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial.

NPS

On April 22, 2023, descendants of the Custis and Lee families, and descendants of enslaved families, gathered at Arlington House and signed a symbolic letter of commitment with the park to tell holistic history at the site. This is that letter:

Whereas, the Arlington House Plantation also known as Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial (hereinafter known as Arlington House) was established by George Washington Parke Custis in 1802 after inheriting land and enslaved people from his grandmother Martha Washington,

Whereas, enslaved labor was used to build the structures, serve the enslavers, and maintain the plantation crops and livestock,

Whereas, the names and the stories of the enslaved people at Arlington House have been given less agency than they deserve,

Whereas, the National Park Service, the George Washington Memorial Parkway (hereinafter known as the Park) as stewards of historic spaces, has the responsibility and duty to interpret the history factually and completely,

Whereas, a list of non-negotiables has been established by the Park to provide guidelines to the staff and public on how the National Park Service will engage the public when interpreting Arlington House,

Whereas, with the help of the Park, after 160 years, Arlington House descendant family members have chosen to come together to form a family circle to work on healing and repair and use their unified voice to encourage our country to do the same.

Therefore, the Park, and representatives of the Branham, Custis, Gray, Henry, Lee, Norris, Parks, and Syphax families (hereinafter known as descendant families) share a mutual interest in the preservation and interpretation of Arlington House.

The general purpose of this letter is to affirm the shared interests of the Park and descendant families in shaping and sharing how descendant family histories and legacies are presented to the public, how the national significance of Arlington House has changed and continues to change over time, and how management of Arlington House will be more accurate, inclusive, and holistic if based on
collaboration between the Park and descendant families.

Both parties are guided by the Arlington House values:

• Honesty. We will speak openly, using relevant facts and always testing our assumptions about the history, ourselves, our colleagues, and our visitors.
• Holistic. We will tell the whole story of the lives of enslaved people and the institution of slavery at Arlington House, recognizing that speaking openly about this history might engender discomfort in ourselves, our colleagues, and our visitors. The story will be inclusive of multiple historical perspectives and will be grounded in current research.
• Dialogue. We will welcome the sharing of multiple perspectives from our colleagues, our collaborators, and our visitors, and will provide physical and rhetorical space for the airing of those perspectives.
• Honor. We will acknowledge and recognize the lives of those enslaved at Arlington House, with respect, humanity, empathy, and agency. We will engage with each other, our visitors, and the history in a manner that is authentic and demonstrates these core values.
• Accountability. We are committed to supporting each other in delivering this new holistic visitor experience with the necessary training, historical research, and emotional care.

Zsun-nee Miller Materna
Branham (Custis) Family Representative
Cecilia D. Torres
Gray Family Representative
Bobby Sumner
Henry Family Representative
Custis Glover
Lee (Custis) Family Representative
Alvin Gillem
Norris Family Representative
Inez Parks
Parks Family Representative
Scott Syphax
Syphax (Custis) Family Representative
Charles Cuvelier
National Park Service Representative