The long road to freedom and the abolition of slavery was paved by many people working towards that goal, including men and women, black and white, Northerners & Southerners. Many African American abolitionists were former slaves, who had either gained freedom through "official" means (were emancipated by those who enslaved them) or had escaped slavery.…
I am continuing to celebrate Black History Month by sharing photos and information from my recent visits to local historical sites with ties to African American history. St. John AME Zion Church is one of several historic Black churches in Wilson, North Carolina. I chose it to visit before I visited the Freeman Round House…
Boyette Slave House in Kenly, North Carolina, Photos by author. In honor of Black History Month I am sharing several local historical sites with significant connections to local Black history. First up is the Boyette Slave House. A lesser-known site, the house is located in rural Kenly, but not far off Hwy 222. I visited…
Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. is an operating theater to this day, but historically it is best known as the site of Lincoln's assassination. On April 14, 1865, while Lincoln was attending a play at Ford's Theater with his wife and Major Henry Rathbone, John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confederate spy, shot Lincoln in…
The National Museum of African American History & Culture is one of those museums that pulls you in and keeps pulling you in. From the outside, it stands out, strikingly different from all of the other museums, monuments, and buildings on the National Mall, creating a welcome visual focal point. Entering feels like going into…
La Malinche, whose given name was most likely Malinalli, was an indigenous woman in what is now Mexico in the early 1500s. She has also been known as Malintzin and Doña Marina (as the Spanish called her.) Most well known as the indigenous woman who helped the Spanish conquer the Aztecs by serving as translator, La…
Finally coming to the end of my Public Historian on Vacation series. I spent so much time writing about San Antonio even though we were only there for 2 days because we packed a lot into 2 days, it was our first time visiting, and it was so beautiful and interesting. After we visited the…
A week ago I slept overnight in the Bellamy Mansion Museum's slave quarters. Your reaction might, like others who I told before the overnight stay, range from "What?" to "Why?" to something like, "You don't hear that everyday." So, let me provide some context and explain why I decided to sleep overnight in a slave dwelling.…
Beth Nevarez Historical Consulting 