02/09/08
Special program commemorates President's Day &
African-American History Month at Saint Paul's
By Joe
Parisi
Located in
Mount Vernon, NY, St. Paul's Church, a National Historic
Site, hosts several special events during the year for
visitors to experience history first hand. To the
delight of many, staff members at the church help tell
the story of the development of colonial society and the
road to the American Revolution. It consists of an 18th
century stone church that was used as a Revolutionary
War hospital, a cemetery with burial stones dating to
1704 and the remnant of a Village Green that was the
scene of the famous Election of 1733 which raised issues
of Freedom of Religion and the Press.
On Saturday, February 9, visitors were treated to a
special program commemorating President's Day and
African-American History Month, attended by many local
and out-of-state visitors.
Events were enjoyed by the public in both the church
and the museum, with the first program taking place in
the museum, and it revolved around the story of the
African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. The African
Burial Ground actually represents the important role and
major contribution that enslaved African men, women, and
children made to the economy, development, and culture
of America, both in the South and North.
In 1991, during the construction of a Federal office
building at 290 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, excavators
unearthed the largest colonial-era cemetery for enslaved
Africans in America. For the previous 200 years, other
parts of the five-acre burial ground, where
approximately 20,000 Africans were buried, had been
disregarded while buildings, streets and parking lots
were constructed over the site.
The scientific and historical studies of the remains
exhumed in 1991 have documented the important stories of
the life, culture and heritage of these enslaved
Africans whose labor contributed to the building of New
York and other American cities.
The church demonstrations were enjoyed by both adults
and children, since it involved live actors who
portrayed Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, Thomas
Jefferson and Harriet Tubman.
The 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, in the guise of
impersonator Phil Jessen, in full Lincoln regalia and
character, was a big hit with the visitors. Jessen
traveled from Hartford, NY to perform at the church.
Another popular impersonator was Damien Smith, an actor
who portrayed Frederick Douglas.
Frederick Douglass, a former slave, was one of the
foremost leaders of the abolitionist movement, which
fought to end slavery within the United States in the
decades prior to the Civil War.
A brilliant speaker, Douglass was asked by the American
Anti-Slavery Society to engage in a tour of lectures,
and so became recognized as one of America's first great
black speakers. He won world fame when his autobiography
was publicized in 1845. Two years later he began
publishing an antislavery paper called the North Star.
Douglass served as an adviser to President Abraham
Lincoln during the Civil War and fought for the adoption
of constitutional amendments that guaranteed voting
rights and other civil liberties for blacks. Douglass
provided a powerful voice for human rights during this
period of American history and is still revered today
for his contributions against racial injustice.
Next portrayed was Thomas Jefferson, the third
President of the United States
(1801–1809), the principal author of the
Declaration of Independence
(1776), and one of the most influential
Founding Fathers
for his promotion of the ideals of
Republicanism in the United States.
Major events during his presidency include the
Louisiana Purchase
(1803) and the
Lewis and Clark Expedition
(1804–1806).
The final person portrayed during the exciting afternoon was
Harriet Tubman, an African-American abolitionist,
humanitarian, and Union spy during the U.S. Civil War.
After escaping from captivity, she made thirteen
missions to rescue over three hundred slaves using the
network of antislavery activists and safe houses known
as the Underground Railroad. She later helped John Brown
recruit men for his raid on Harpers Ferry, and in the
post-war era struggled for women's suffrage.
Born into slavery in Dorchester County, Maryland,
Tubman was beaten and whipped by her various owners as a
child. Early in her life, she suffered a traumatic head
wound when an irate slave owner threw a heavy metal
weight at her, intending to hit another slave. The
injury caused disabling seizures, headaches, and
powerful visionary and dream activity, and spells of
hypersomnia which occurred throughout her entire life. A
devout Christian, she ascribed her visions and vivid
dreams to premonitions from God.
In 1849, Tubman escaped to Philadelphia, then
immediately returned to Maryland to rescue her family.
Slowly, one group at a time, she brought relatives with
her out of the state, and eventually guided dozens of
other slaves to freedom. Traveling by night and in
extreme secrecy, Tubman (or "Moses", as she was called)
"never lost a passenger". Heavy rewards were offered for
many of the people she helped bring away, but no one
ever knew it was Harriet Tubman who was helping them.
When a far-reaching United States Fugitive Slave Law was
passed in 1850, she helped guide fugitives further north
into Canada, and helped newly-freed slaves find work.
The special four-hour program offered a little of
everything for visitors of all ages, especially the
children, who were treated to American Revolutionary
games, toys and hands-on activities, plus gallery talks
by exhibit staff member, Pat McLaughlin Ernest, a Pelham
Manor resident.
The day's program ended with David Osborn, Director of Saint
Paul's Church, talking about the Presidency in American
history.
Abraham
Lincoln, portrayed by Phil Jessen, shown with young
visitors
Damien Smith as Frederick Douglass
Exhibit
staff member, Pat McLaughlin Ernest, explaining an
American Revolutionary game to children.
(l to r) David Osborn and Blake Bell, Town of Pelham
Historian
