"This volume contains the first narrative history of the Washington Navy Yard's black workforce, both slave and free,1799 - 1865 and for the first time, provides detailed tables, and appendices, listing the names of black mechanics and laborers. Separate columns help identify slaveholders, employee job title, pay rate and source or citation for the information. This history was researched and written using primarily the records of the Department of the Navy, Washington Navy Yard, official correspondence, employee pay and muster documents and District of Columbia archival records such as: certificates of freedom, slave sales, apprenticeship indentures and last will and testaments. This is an essential volume for understanding employment on the Washington Navy Yard prior to the Emancipation Proclamation."