A bronze statue of an enslaved woman from Massachusetts who went to court docket to win her freedom in 1781 was unveiled Sunday throughout a ceremony.
WASHINGTON — The story of an enslaved woman who went to court docket to win her freedom greater than 80 years earlier than the Emancipation Proclamation had been pushed to the fringes of historical past.
A gaggle of civic leaders, activists and historians hope that ended Sunday in the quiet Massachusetts city of Sheffield with the unveiling of a bronze statue of the woman who selected the identify Elizabeth Freeman when she shed the chains of slavery 241 years in the past to the day.
Her story, whereas exceptional, stays comparatively obscure.
State Rep. William “Smitty” Pignatelli grew up not removed from Sheffield in the Berkshires of western Massahusetts but did not hear her story till about 20 years in the past. He discovered that lots of his colleagues in the Statehouse had been additionally largely in the darkish concerning the significance of her case, which set the authorized precedent that primarily ended slavery in Massachusetts.
“She’s clearly a hidden figure in American history, and I really believe Black history is American history,” stated Pignatelli, a Democrat. “But unfortunately, Black history is what we haven’t been told and taught.”
The enslaved woman, generally known as Bett, couldn’t learn or write, however she listened.
And what she heard didn’t make sense.
While she toiled in bondage in the family of Col. John Ashley, he and different distinguished residents of Sheffield met to debate their grievances about British tyranny. In 1773, they wrote in what are generally known as the Sheffield Resolves that “Mankind in a state of nature are equal, free, and unbiased of one another.”
Those phrases had been echoed in Article 1 of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, which begins “All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights.”
It is believed that Bett, after listening to a public studying of the structure, walked roughly 5 miles from the Ashley family to the house of legal professional Theodore Sedgwick, one of many residents who drafted the Sheffield Resolves, and requested him to symbolize her in her authorized quest for freedom, stated Paul O’Brien, president of the Sheffield Historical Society.
Sedgwick and one other legal professional, Tapping Reeve, took the case.
Women had restricted authorized rights in Massachusetts courts on the time, so a male slave in the Ashley family named Brom was added to the case.
The jury agreed with the attorneys, releasing Bett and Brom on Aug. 21, 1781.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, and his spouse, Diane, are residents of the Berkshires and have been instrumental in fundraising and organizational efforts. They led Sunday’s ceremony.
“What I love about the story is that this remarkable woman, enslaved, sometimes brutalized, unable to read, listened carefully to the conversation around the table as the men she was serving discussed the concepts of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as ‘inalienable rights,'” Patrick, the state’s first Black governor, said in an email. “I love that this powerless woman could imagine these powerful ideas as her own, and could persuade others to test that question. And I love that the Massachusetts courts had the integrity of purpose to take her question seriously.”
Pignatelli was impressed to boost a statue of Freeman final 12 months when he attended the revealing of a statue of Susan B. Anthony in Adams, the Berkshire County neighborhood the place the suffragist was born.
He introduced collectively stakeholders and raised about $280,000, sufficient cash for the roughly 8-foot statue, in addition to a scholarship fund in Freeman’s honor for space highschool college students.
Gwendolyn VanSant, the CEO of BRIDGE, an space nonprofit that fosters racial understanding and fairness, is overseeing the scholarships.
She referred to as Freeman an icon and a trailblazer. “For me as an African American woman, it’s amazing to be walking in her footsteps,” she stated.
After the court docket case, Ashley requested Freeman to return to his family as a paid servant, however she refused and as an alternative went to work for Sedgwick, the place she helped increase his youngsters and was identified by the affectionate identify, Mumbet.
She was a healer, a nurse and a midwife, who purchased her personal property in close by Stockbridge, VanSant stated.
The Sedgwicks had such a deep respect for Mumbet that when she died in 1829 at concerning the age of 85 she was buried with them, the one non-family member in the household plot. Much of what historians find out about her was written by one among Theodore Sedgwick’s daughters, the novelist Catharine Maria Sedgwick, O’Brien stated.
The statue, forged by famend sculptor Brian Hanlon, was positioned on the property of the First Congregational Church in Sheffield, not removed from the Sedgwick residence.
“We don’t know if Elizabeth Freeman went to the church, however we all know Ashley did, and it was frequent for enslavers to carry enslaved folks to take care of their youngsters at church,” stated O’Brien.
Although some 200 folks had been anticipated to attend Sunday’s unveiling, the end result of three days of celebrations, organizers have been unable to seek out any of Freeman’s descendants.
VanSant hopes a everlasting memorial will spur curiosity into Freeman’s story. “Maybe her descendants will find us,” she stated.
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