You have to understand that, in that time period, when things got done and you didnt get to be a part of the decision-making, theres resentment, said Connie Matthews Harshaw, president of the churchs Let Freedom Ring Foundation. Congregants who remember the church before it was torn down told her that community meetings were being held in places where Blacks were not allowed to come. There wasnt an opportunity for the Black community to voice their objection.
Colonial Williamsburg, in the historic district of Williamsburg, Va., is an open-air museum that attempts to recreate life in the colonial era. Its populated by historical re-enactors dressed in period garb and performing interpretations of how people lived and worked at the time. However, it wasnt until 1979 that Black residents stories started to be interpreted, and even then primary sources that speak to Black life were limited.
The projects website said that, if successful, this initiative will enable Colonial Williamsburg to expand its Black-interpretative programming through voices that have been silent since the Revolution.
When the archaeology project started work in earnest to unearth the church, the impact was powerful. When the trees came down and the parking lot came up, it was pretty emotional, Ms. Matthews Harshaw said.read more
Colonial Williamsburg Project Unearths Graves and Artifacts at Site of Historic Black Church
