William & Ellen Craft Descendants Retrace Ancestors Footsteps At Juneteenth-Aquia Landing
Descendants of escaped slaves, William and Ellen Craft will speak at the Rappahannock Regional Juneteenth Celebration at Aquia Landing in Stafford, Virginia.
- (1888PressRelease) June 15, 2011 - The Center for African American Genealogical Research, Inc. (CAAGRI) has announced that the descendants of legendry escaped slaves, William and Ellen Craft, will retrace their ancestors footsteps at Aquia Landing on Saturday, June 25, 2011 during the Rappahannock Regional Juneteenth Celebration.
On December 18, 1848, husband and wife William and Ellen Craft fled their Georgia captors disguised as a infirmed white male planter (Ellen) with her husband playing the role as servant. The 7 day journey by train and steam boat landed the couple in Philadelphia on December 25, 1848 with a stop at Aquia Landing along the way.
Maria Niles, Mary Ellen Butler and a host of Craft descendants will join CAAGRI and the entire Rappahannock community to honor the legacies of the Crafts as well as pay tribute to Henry "Box" Brown, John Washington and the 10,000 African descended Americans who crossed Aquia Landing seeking freedom in 1862.
Juneteenth is often referred to as "Emancipation Day" for the African American community as the day (June 19, 1865) when all slaves had been informed that the Civil War was over and they had been legally freed.
Stafford County Tourism Department is the title sponsor for the 146th celebration of Juneteenth. Additional co-sponsors include: The Star Radio Group (99.3 The Vibe), Wells Fargo Bank, the Moncure Conway Foundation and Famous Dave's.
Hosted by 99.3 The Vibe's early morning personality, Mr. Don Black, this family event begins promptly at 10:00 am and offers: FREE Hot Dogs for kids, African Drummers & Dancers, Griot (Jim Thomas), Double-Dutch Lessons, Kite making/flying, FREE Health Screening, Raffle (win fabulous prizes), quilt makers, period re-enactors, Clothing & Jewelry Vendors and plenty of BBQ and red soda.
Parking at Aquia Landing will be limited to vendors and program participants ONLY. Please park at the Brooke Road VRE Rail Station for free shuttle service to and from Aquia Landing.
For more information on Juneteenth, please visit: www.caagri.org or call 540/785.9925. For directions and parking instructions, please visit www.tourstafford.va.com
About CAAGRI:
The Center for African American Genealogical Research, Inc, is a non-profit organization headquartered in Fredericksburg, Virginia with satellite offices in Accra, Ghana and Technical Learning Center at William Byrd Community House in Richmond, Virginia.
About Aquia Landing:
Aquia Landing was a steamboat wharf and the northern terminus of the RF&P Railroad. Initially acting as a domestic slave trade portal, Aquia Landing was later transformed into a gateway to freedom through which fugitive slaves passed en route to liberty. Among those freedom-seeking slaves were William and Ellen Craft, Henry "Box" Brown, and John Washington. Between April and September 1862, as many as 10,000 slaves passed through Stafford during the Union Army's first occupation, just prior to the Emancipation Proclamation.
For more information about the event, please visit: www.caagri.org or call: 540.785.9925
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