From the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park:
“Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, we were here.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
Chatham Manor was built and sustained by enslaved people, a legacy of the 1619 beginnings of African slavery in the English colonies.
This Sunday, August 25, bells across the land will ring out, marking the 400th anniversary of the landing of those first enslaved Africans in the English North American colonies.
Join us on the lawn of Chatham at 2:30pm to recognize how this event changed, and is still changing, the course of American history.
At 3pm, bells across the river in Fredericksburg and around the nation will ring for four minutes in observance of the 400 years of this turbulent history.
Programs on the history of Chatham Manor and the grounds will be offered at 11am and 2pm.
