The Montpelier Descendants Committee is a heritage and educational organization supported by descendants of persons enslaved at former President James Madison’s Montpelier plantation in Orange, Virginia. ¹ It holds substantial influence in the management of the Montpelier Foundation, which administers Madison’s home as an historic site.

Background

On June 14, 2019, activists and the descendants of persons who were enslaved at Montpelier, the plantation estate of President James Madison, met to establish a heritage organization commemorating the lives of their ancestors. ²

During the summer of 2021, the newly created organization, the Montpelier Descendants Committee, announced that it had “achieved structural parity” with the Montpelier Foundation, another nonprofit foundation that has administered the estate as an educational site since 1998. According to the Committee’s website, this parity was achieved after a “a year and a half of intense negotiation.” ^{3 4}

In July 2021, the Montpelier Descendants Committee was registered as a tax exempt charitable organization in Orange, Virginia. ⁵

Conflict with Montpelier Foundation

According to a report from National Public Radio, in the year following the Montpelier Descendants Committee’s announcement of structural parity with the Montpelier Foundation, both organizations were at odds over the distribution of seats on the board that runs the latter organization. ⁶

During the summer of 2021, the agreement that was reportedly reached between the two organizations stated that half of the Foundation’s board seats would be selected by the Committee. However, in March 2022, the Foundation’s board changed its bylaws, which altered the nominating arrangement that had been devised earlier. Following disagreements between board members and staff, in April 2022, four staff members allegedly supportive of the Committee’s position were terminated. ⁷

Following the terminations, the Foundation issued a statement saying that it would accept nine of fifteen candidates for its board nominated by the committee, who would join in two tranches separated by a period of months. In response, the committee alleged that the foundation’s offer was a “poison pill,” which would ensure that the “white board maintain power.” According to a statement given to NPR by the Committee’s attorney, Greg Werkheiser, the basis for this allegation is that in the interim between the appointments of the first and second tranche, the foundation’s original board, which he described as “racists,” would maintain a two third’s majority for nearly five months, which they could ostensibly use to prevent the rehiring of terminated staff members and amend the organization’s bylaws. ⁸

Activities

The Montpelier Descendants Committee plans to partner with archeologists to identify and digitally catalogue the boundaries and locations of slave habitations and villages in the Montpelier estate. ⁹

Leadership

The president of the Montpelier Descendants Committee is Larry Walker, who claims descent from Montpelier slave Benjamin McDaniel. Aside from sitting on the Committee, he is the deputy pastor and chief of staff of Celebration Church in Columbia, Maryland, as well as the president of the African American Community Roundtable of Howard County, Maryland. Previously, Walker was a member of the Howard County Board of Education. Additionally, Walker is a volunteer with the Howard County Racial Equity Collaborative and the Howard County Library System’s Racial Equity Alliance. ¹⁰

1. Wise, Alana. “Montpelier says it’s open to parity with slave descendants. Descendants call foul.” NPR. April 20, 2022. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/20/1093673939/montpeliers-fight-with-descendants-of-the-enslaved-brings-employee-firings
2. “Who We Are.” Montpelier Descendants Committee. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://montpelierdescendants.org/about/
3. “Montpelier Foundation History.” Montpelier Foundation. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.montpelier.org/about/foundation
4. “Who We Are.” Montpelier Descendants Committee. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://montpelierdescendants.org/about/
5. Montpelier Descendants Committee. ProPublica. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/863558157
6. Wise, Alana. “Montpelier says it’s open to parity with slave descendants. Descendants call foul.” NPR. April 20, 2022. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/20/1093673939/montpeliers-fight-with-descendants-of-the-enslaved-brings-employee-firings
7. Wise, Alana. “Montpelier says it’s open to parity with slave descendants. Descendants call foul.” NPR. April 20, 2022. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/20/1093673939/montpeliers-fight-with-descendants-of-the-enslaved-brings-employee-firings
8. Wise, Alana. “Montpelier says it’s open to parity with slave descendants. Descendants call foul.” NPR. April 20, 2022. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://www.npr.org/2022/04/20/1093673939/montpeliers-fight-with-descendants-of-the-enslaved-brings-employee-firings
9. “Memorialization Workshop.” Montpelier Descendants Committee. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://montpelierdescendants.org/workshop/
10. “MONTPELIER DESCENDANTS COMMITTEE: FULL OFFICER BIOS.” Montpelier Descendants Committee. Accessed September 19, 2022. https://montpelierdescendants.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/New-Officer-Bios-72021.pdf