The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership Celebrates
Black History Month with 100 Local Stories with National Impact
Latest Book Expands on Rich Tapestry of the American Story
For Immediate Release
February 4, 2010
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Waterford, Virginia —The concept of Black History Month originated nearly
85-years ago with Virginia native Carter G. Woodson, who pioneered “Negro
History Week.” This commemoration continues today serving
as the impetus for embracing African American history on a national scale.
In the same spirit, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership’s
latest book, Honoring Their Paths: African American Contributions
Along the Journey Through Hallowed Ground, reveals 100 African
American stories within the four-state Journey Through Hallowed Ground National
Heritage Area that have played a critical role in shaping not just this region’s
rich history but our nation’s ideals and culture.
Honoring Their Paths: African American Contributions Along the
Journey Through Hallowed Groundshines a light on the heroic
and humbling contributions of slaves, freemen, nationally acclaimed artists,
and heralded civil rights leaders, revealing some three hundred years
of individual contributions to our American heritage.
Dr. Robert G. Staunton, Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of
the Interior, Director of the U.S. Office of Youth, and former Director of
the National Park Service (1997-2001), offered this when he wrote the forward
in this book:
“Our history is a story often told with images, a patchwork quilt, where
each piece has a special story, but the full effect is only achieved when they
are sewn together. Our heritage is a tapestry of interwoven strands representing
every hue and color, which form the patterns of our great heritage. They tell
the story of America.
Here are the stories of educational, political, cultural, business and civil
rights leaders. Here are the places that help us learn and understand
our human experience so that citizens may avoid repeating grievous mistakes
even as they admire the accomplishments that glorify the nation.”
Robert K. Sutton, PhD, and Chief Historian for the National
Park Service said, “This remarkable book brings to the public a rich
and complex component of our American narrative by looking beyond the bricks
and mortar of historic sites to the people who—through courage, creativity
and conviction—helped shape our nation.”
Jennie Dean, W.E.B Du Bois, Thorton Poole, Basil Turner, Harriet Newby, Charles
Houston, Luther P. Jackson, John Jackson, Edna Lewis, and George Gilmore are
just a few of the men and women whose indelible contributions are brought to
light in this book — contributions which have shaped this nation’s
past, present and future as they elucidated our American ideals.
There are dozens more stories as well, each tied to a heritage site within
the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area: churches, taverns,
parks, museums, places along with Underground Railroad, all of which exists
today and invite every visitor an opportunity to step into the boots of these
American heroes.
“Generation after generation, the people of this amazing region have
been called upon to define what it means to be an American,” said Cate
Magennis Wyatt, president of the Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership. “Yet,
we found many of these extraordinary stories were untold. Accordingly,
we sought and fortunately secured funding to ensure we had the finest scholars
and the most dedicated team to more fully uncover this history”
Authored by Dr. Deborah Lee, Honoring Their Paths: African American
Contributions Along the Journey Through Hallowed Ground is
a 248-page book that was produced with the keen insight and expertise of
34 historians and academicians. It includes fifteen easy-to-use maps,
fascinating profiles as well as archival images depicting many of the indelible
contributions made by African Americans who lived within the four-state
Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area that runs from Gettysburg,
PA to Monticello, VA.
Dr. Lee, will be signing her book at the Brentsville Court House Historic
Center on February 25 at 7:00pm.
Dr. Lee, said, “Understanding the African American experience lends
new dimensions to the phrase ‘hallowed ground.’ We owe gratitude
to the many African Americans, famous and anonymous, who have enriched our
world in so many ways. Through their lives and work, their struggles
and achievements, they hallowed this ground. Through this project, and
through visits to the places they knew, we seek to honor their paths.”
Honoring Their Paths: African American Contributions Along the
Journey Through Hallowed Ground is published by the Journey
Through Hallowed Ground Partnership and has been made possible by the Virginia
Foundation for the Humanities, Pennsylvania Museum and Historical Commission,
Loudoun Preservation and Restoration Society, the Virginia Department of
Historic Resources and individual contributions.
The book is available through the JTHG Web site and
retails for $20.
In addition to its rich African American history, the Journey Through National
Ground National Heritage Area includes nine Presidential homes, the largest
collection of Civil War sites, 30 historic Main Street communities, 13 National
Park units, 73 National Historic Districts, significant Native American history,
sites from the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War and the War of
1812.
This is the fourth book produced by the JTHG Partnership – all providing
critical historical elements to depict a more complete story of the hallowed
region. The other three include:
- The Journey Through Hallowed Ground: Birthplace of the American Ideal
- The Journey Through Hallowed Ground—The Official Travel Guide
to Where America Happened
- Hallowed Ground - Preserving America's Heritage
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