Program

During the colonial period and the time of the American Revolution, freedom was on the minds of all people, including those held in captivity or on the margins in the free Black communities. There were many Black people who wanted to make sure that the revolutionary ideals of the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness would become reality for themselves, their community, and their children. Storyteller Valerie Tutson recounts significant stories from this moment in our national history through the tales of Ona Maria Judge, who escaped from the plantation of President George Washington, James Forten, who, as a teen, risked his life in the fight against the British, and Elizabeth Freeman, known as Mumbet, whose court case paved the way to abolishing slavery in Massachusetts.