African American Contributions To Be Featured in Guided Walking Tours

Media Contact: Jim Schepmoes
804-493-8038 ext. 8119
jschepmoes@stratfordhall.org

For Immediate Release

STRATFORD, VA, (February 4, 2010) – A special guided walking tour featuring the contributions of African Americans at Stratford Hall will be featured at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 13, 2010 and again on February 27, 2010 in celebration of Black History Month. The cost of this special tour is included in the cost of the Great House tour. The walking tour is approximately 45 minutes in length, weather permitting.

African Americans have been vital to Stratford’s history for over 200 years, forming the majority of the plantation’s community during the 18th century. Slavery explains African Americans’ initial association with Stratford, and different portions of the plantation landscape provide clues to this institution’s effects and how African Americans sustained family and community life under this repressive system.

While some documents survive pertaining to African Americans at Stratford, much of their lives went unrecorded. Archaeology offers another research tool for recovering aspects of slave domestic life, material possessions, and working conditions.

This walking tour uses a series of locations that combine archaeological and architectural evidence, documentary history, and an appreciation of the plantation landscape to foster an African-American perspective on Stratford.

For more information please contact Laura Lawfer, Director of Interpretation and Programs, at llawfer@stratfordhall.org or by calling 804-493-8038 ext. 1920. For a complete calendar of upcoming events, please visit www.stratfordhall.org.