LINDLEY ESTES: John Washington was born a slave in Fredericksburg, but on April 18, 1862, he crossed the Rappahannock River into Stafford County and was freed by invading Union Army forces. His story, known because of his 1872 memoir, “Memorys of the Past,” was dramatized by actor Elliot Dash at Chatham Manor on Saturday, as part of Stafford’s Trail to Freedom weekend celebration. As part of the county’s 350th anniversary events, the story of African–Americans, which often gets left out of the narrative of the nation’s founding, was told through Dash’s portrayal of Washington, gospel choirs at Mount Hope Baptist Church, bus tours of African–American historical sites, historical interpreters at Aquia Landing where slave ships docked and an unveiling of a mural depicting great African–Americans of Stafford County at the Rowser Building. Nine million people lived as slaves in the U.S. Of them, only 300 had memoirs published. “One of the best happened to be written by a Fredericksburg man,” said John Hennessy, chief historian of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park. “He never imagined his memoir would make him famous. Our intent is to give him a little time in the limelight for the book tour that never was.” Dash, a Maryland-based actor who performed Washington’s memoirs, had never heard of the man before participating in the project, said he found Washington fascinating. As a light-skinned African–American, Washington’s memoir shows that he had more leeway than most slaves. But his memoir also details how that didn’t matter, “because slavery affects and confines the soul.” “Silence is a big part of slave life,” Dash, as Washington, told the audience. “In the presence of white men and women, slaves are expected to be silent ... but silence goes further. In Fredericksburg, a slave’s birth, death, marriage and names were not recorded—to keep us invisible. It was against the law to teach slaves to read or write—to keep them silent.” But in writing his memoir, Dash said, Washington broke that silence. ... MORE: freelancestar/2014-11-02/articles/48909/listening-to-voices-from-staffords-past/
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 18:17:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015