Stagville Plantation: A Crime Scene and A Mass Gravesite

If you've ever had the interest. The nerve. The bravery. Or, the respect for your deceased ancestors. Then, maybe you've visited them. If so, good for you. Their bones lie all over America. I hope you remembered to say a prayer. 

As a tour guide, I've taken many trips to Stagville Plantation. Its' located just north of Durham, NC. Stagville is now a state owned historic site. There are many such places, mostly in the South. 

Africans, were not "slaves" in Africa. They became enslaved after being brought to America. Their bodies are buried with no headstones. No markers. Nothing indicating who they were. If you are a person of color, it is possible that your ancestors are buried in such a place?

Each time I went to Stagville, I said a prayer for the dead. They deserve that much . Some of us "modern day" blacks want to act as though they never existed.

Three Letters From Our Ancestors

In my search to authenticate Black history, one thing I learned early on from museum curators, historians and educators was to seek out "primary source" materials and artifacts. These could include: pictures, utensils of everyday life, antiques, letters, ect, that have been preserved by our ancestors and their descendants. In other words, items that can be verified as original. 

My intention with this post is to introduce the reader to writings by three different Black men, from three different walks of life in the mid 1800's. Each writer demonstrates independence, devotion to family, and love of freedom.

As you read these letters, keep in mind that in many slave states it was illegal for enslaved persons to learn to read or write, punishable by death. 

The first letter is by Samuel Cabble, Civil War soldier, the second by free, Black entreprenuer Thomas Day, and the third by former slave, Jourdon Anderson. 

The following is a summary of each letter. 

Samuel Cabble, Soldier

The first letter is from Civil War soldier, Samuel Cabble, US Colored Troops 55th Massachusetts Infantry, who volunteered to fight for freedom in 1863 when President Lincoln called on Black freedmen

CW Part 6:The Civil War: Spy vs Spy

During the American Civil War(1861-1865), battlefield intelligence was critical to strategic and logistical battle plans, just as it is today. I have been intrigued by the Civil War for some time, the story of spying, a story within a story, added a new layer to the history. 

The allure of Civil War espionage first came to me as I was walking past an historic marker some years ago in downtown Wilmington, NC. The marker, placed in front of a two story home, read the name of a Confederate spy who frequently stayed at the residence during the war. Upon further research I found

Afro Caribbeans and The Panama Canal: Who Actually Built it?

I’m a history enthusiast  and one of the reasons I became interested in living in Panama was to study the history of Africans brought to the Caribbean, and Central & South America. In fact, two-thirds of those transported in the slave trade from Africa landed in places other than the United States.

With that in mind, picture ships, two to three football fields long, passing through the mammoth Panama Canal locks at Miraflores, just west of Panama City. Witnessing one of the greatest engineering feats in history, I was duly impressed.

The viewing tower, about eight stories high, allows you to look down on the locks in operation as ships of all sizes pass through the Panama Canal, which was completed in 1914, and will celebrate 100 years of operation in 2014.

But, who actually built it? The Spanish tried, and so did the French. By the early 1900′s the Americans stepped in during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt. The completion of the canal in 1914 helped elevate America’s status as a world power. But at an enormous human cost.

Early on, I was surprised to discover that a large number of those who worked on the Panama Canal, in the early 1900′s, were Caribbeans of African decent.

The canal project attracted workers from around the world, China, Europe, and America. However, the largest number of those who worked on the canal were Afro-Caribbeans, mainly from Barbados. These workers were among the greatest number to