When I told my friends about starting a blog chronicling my “Nerd Trips” to sites associated with U.S. presidents, my college roommate Susan had an immediate and strong reaction, “That’s sexist!” Actually, I don’t think I can be held responsible for the fact that the United States has not had any female presidents. However, in celebration of Women’s History Month, I decided to tackle this topic: Are Nerd Trips sexist?

I had never heard of Paul Jennings until we encountered him on a Nerd Trip to Montpelier, home to our fourth president James Madison. Jennings was a slave who served as Madison’s personal assistant during the White House years and afterward. Jennings is a fascinating witness to history, writing the first White House memoir, called “A Colored Man’s Reminiscence of James Madison,” published in 1865. I bought a copy at the Montpelier gift shop.