Four Free Women Re-visited

The 54th annual Emancipation reunion at Cosmopolitan Baptist Church in Washington, DC October 1916 (Harris & Ewing Collection/Library of Congress)

In April 2012 at the time of the 150th anniversary of the emancipation of enslaved people in the District of Columbia–a prelude to the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1, 1863–I saw a photograph in the Washington Post of four women centenarians, who had gathered with other freed people at a church in Washington, DC in 1916.

I was so curious about the women that I began to do research about the photo and the event. When I posted the photo on my Helping Ourselves/Telling Our Stories Facebook page, it went viral like nothing I’d ever posted before. Earlier this year For Harriet’s Facebook page posted it and it truly blew up!

Here’s a link to the blog article I wrote two and a half years ago after I discovered more details about the event, about the photographer and about the minister whose church hosted the gathering.
Last week the PBS show, “To the Contrary,” interviewed me for a segment about the photo. The piece begins at 16:00.