Hardy, Va – On Saturday, December 5, from 3:00 pm- 8:00
p.m., join the park rangers and volunteers at Booker T. Washington National
Monument for “An Old Virginia Christmas: The Plantation Residents React to John
Brown’s Raid.” This event will kickoff many special programs in the next
several years commemorating the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War at Booker
T. Washington National Monument. Visitors will learn about how Christmas was
celebrated on a plantation in 1859 and how one abolitionist steered the United
States towards a devastating Civil War.
It is 1859. Virginians are scared out of their minds. A
fierce abolitionist stalked out of the disputed territory of Kansas to invade
the heartland of the slave-owning South; “…our peace is disturbed, our State
invaded, its peaceful citizens cruelly murdered, and all the horrors of servile
war” hover menacingly. At least, that’s what Southerners are saying. In the North,
prominent citizens like Horace Greeley and Henry David Thoreau are applauding
the first strike against slavery, and rabble-rousers promise more to come. “The
feeling of uncertain dread is very strong…”
Listen to whispered conversations among the residents and visitors on the Burroughs
plantation as they discuss John Brown’s raid and Christmas, also known as “The
Big Times,” in 1859. Discover how Christmas was celebrated on the eve of the
American Civil War while enjoying sights, smells, and tastes of an antebellum
Christmas with candlelit costumed tours, children's activities, storytelling
and hot apple cider and gingerbread.
Booker T. Washington described Christmas in the mid-nineteenth century as he
remembered it. “…In my opinion the real Christmas must be spent in the country,
and I cannot but feel that there is in the Virginia Christmas atmosphere a
fragrance and an influence which is not to be found elsewhere.” Would you like
to take a trip back to an Old Virginia Christmas? What would your opinions be
as a northerner or southerner, enslaved person or free, in 1859?
The afternoon programs will include children’s activities, farm programs, and
storytelling by Royal Shiree from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Walking tours including
costumed interpreters will be held at 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The
event will conclude with a special reading of Booker T. Washington's
"Christmas Days in Old Virginia.” Join us for a Christmas from long ago
Admission is free. No reservations are required. Contact Booker T. Washington
National Monument at (540) 721-2094 for more information.
Betsy Haynes Booker T. Washington NM Park Ranger 12130 BTW
Highway Hardy, VA 24101 540/721-2094
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