Very well written and thought provoking. As a layperson historian myself, I believe all persons no matter their sex or race strive to live free. Some slaves were brave and strong enough to break their chains of slavery and realize they could live a better life some place else other than on the plantations as a slave. Who really was the first person to think this and do it? Will we really ever know? But the ones we know about should have their histories told. Because it is an American story. Every person who comes here whether it is from an immigrant ship landing in Jamestown, New Netherland, Plymouth Rock, Ellis Island, or coming across the boarder illegally or escaping slavery in the south have a similar reason - they are not free, but they want to be free to live their lives the way they choose to live. Breaking free from slavery on our southern farms and plantations, no matter how they did it, is an under told story of our history that truly needs more research and needs to be taught, because they too are our "hundled masses yearning to be free". And on that note regarding more research being needed. Should future Civil War anniversarys also make us want to understand why the white southerners felt the need to erect such humongous statues of their Confederate ancestors? I certainly don't understand why they felt that need to do that. But did they feel their history was being erased as well? I simply cringe when I ride up & down I 81 and see the Confederate battle flag flying in the breeze that is about the size of a barn. Do these descendants still feel their history is being erased? I don't know. But we'd better find out. Because whether we feel a group a people are right or wrong, as historians we should still try to interpret them, research them, and teach about them. Because as the old cliché goes, "those who refuse to learn the lessons of history are doom to repeat them" or something like that. And division is stronger right now in this country than I have ever seen it. Even stronger than the turbulent 1960's, I feel. As a child in the 1960's I remember driving past the large Confederate statues in Charlottesville and Richmond and thinking to myself "holy crap! who are they?" Of course, my dad (the lay historian who influenced me) told me they were famous "rebel" soldiers. We called them rebels in western Maryland were I grew up. I wondered why they erected statues of "rebels", who to this day I still feel are responsible for the Civil War. In my opinion if Virginia wouldn't have succeeded and those famous "rebel" soldiers in those statues would have stayed with the US army, there would have been no Gettysburg, Antetium, Wilderness, no Andersonville prison were my own ancestor was force into slavery to build his own slave quarters and is buried in one of the many unmarked graves there. So when revisioning history for the next Civil War anniversary, please remember to revision those people who erected those statues because people like me still look at their ancestors as traitors and rebels. We can't help it, because no one has shown us a reason not to. And we, descendants of "enslavers", but also descendants of "non slavers", want to understand our own past and want our "why" questions answered. And in my opinion, only really good historians who are super good at revisioning can help us feel united as an American people all seeking a better life for ourselves and our families. And in that we are one people, who share the same histories. The histories of our "huddled masses yearning to be free". And don't forget some people never learned what you were taught in the 1960's so don't just leave that part out when revisioning either. <wink> ______________________________________ To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at https://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html This list is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).