Remembering the Contraband and their Descendants

61 Bernard Road,Hampton VA 23651

24 May, 2023

Description

Contraband Historical Society celebrates its annual commemoration on sacred ground! SAY THEIR NAMES - Remembering the Civil War Contrabands On May 24th, 2023 at 7pm at the historic Chapel of the Centurion at Fort Monroe, the Contraband Historical Society will bring together local “Contraband” descendants with a 3rd-great-grandson of Major General Benjamin Butler. The Society annually commemorates this date in 1861, when local enslaved men Frank Baker, Shepard Mallory and James Townsend fled to Fort Monroe and requested asylum. Their actions inspired Butler to make a bold decision that day, to grant them sanctuary. As a result, Fort Monroe and Hampton became a haven for thousands of runaways in their fight for self-emancipation during the Civil War. Come hear more about this often overlooked piece of American history and about CHS’s many new initiatives to bring the ancestors' histories into the light. "Some people don't realize the history that's here. Descendants of these contraband slaves created a moral, spiritual and economically viable community for blacks, and the houses that many people now live in once belonged to the contraband." - Gerri L. Hollins, CHS. The May 24th program, which is free to the public, also includes: Attorney and genealogist Bessida White, who recently discovered her own Contraband rootsLiving history reenactor Richard Scott, who appears as General ButlerHistorian Dr. William Wiggins who appears as Congressional Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Major Christian FleetwoodApostle Harriet Askew singing “Go Down, Moses” Dance program by Tyshawna Webb and the Built to Worship Dance Group.The Contraband Historical Society is a 501 (C)(3) educational nonprofit organization celebrating its 26th year. Conceived in 1997 by Hampton, Virginia native and Contraband descendant the late Gerri L. Hollins and then organized by her and others, the Society is dedicated to educating, elevating and celebrating the stories of the Contrabands, early Africans in America, and African American history. For more information or to support CHS, visit https://contrabandhistoricalsociety.com/ for more details. Presented with assistance from the Fort Monroe Authority. For information on other related observances at Fort Monroe, visit the websites of the Fort Monroe Authority, https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/event-search.htm, and Fort Monroe National Monument https://fortmonroe.org/.