5 Ways to Honor Black History Month with Historic Sotterley
While every month is Black History Month at Historic Sotterley, February was the month selected by Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History to host a Negro History Week in 1926 (marking 100 years of celebrating black history this year!). The celebration was so widely popular that it had expanded to an entire month of honoring black history in some places as early as the 1940s. It became a force for promoting the study of black history in schools and preserving the stories of the countless black men and women who had contributed to the advance of human civilization. You can read the full and fascinating history of Black History Month on the Association for the Study of African American Life and History’s website here.
Although our guided tours and exhibits are closed to protect our historic buildings for the winter, there are still plenty of ways you can join us in celebrating Black History Month:
1. Read these two Sotterley History Books about the Kane and Barber Families
The Kane Family: Slavery to Freedom at Sotterley is David G. Brown’s newest publication. This book compiles and preserves the work of descendant, genealogist, and historian Agnes Kane Callum. Agnes’s decades of research into her family, beginning with her grandfather and great-grandfather, who were enslaved at Sotterley, helped transform how we understand and share our history at Historic Sotterley. Her work uncovered the family histories of hundreds of descendants connected to Sotterley and laid the foundation for a more complete and honest interpretation of our past.
The Barber Family: From Slavery, Through Segregation, and The Civil Rights Movement was published just two years ago and is the work of David G. Brown and descendant Donald M. Barber. It tells the story of Donald’s family against the backdrop of their challenges with post-Civil War economic decline and racism in St. Mary’s County, and the struggle for more self-reliant, prosperous, and fulfilling lives with dignity.
Both books are available through Historic Sotterley for $20 each. You can pick up your copy by stopping by our office during our open hours or by emailing officemanager@sotterley.org to have them shipped to you with a shipping & handling fee.
2. Watch The Choice — Risking Your Life for Freedom
Watch the video here!
This 30-minute video was created thanks to a grant from The Southern Maryland Heritage Area Consortium (now Southern Maryland National Heritage Area). It is a living history presentation that takes a look at impossible choices that the enslaved at Sotterley were faced with during the War of 1812. A total of 49 of Sotterley’s enslaved men, women, and children ended up taking the risk of joining the British for the promise of their freedom.
The Choice — Risking your Life for Freedom was written by Dale Jones, Directed by Dawna Diaz, and features incredible local actors. It was filmed with the expertise of David Taylor and crew from Phocus Video.
3. Hear directly from one of Sotterley’s descendants about what life was like at Sotterley in the 1960s
Watch the video here!
If the Barber family book above wasn’t enough of a deep dive for you, check out this event from 2021 featuring Donald Barber himself! Donald is the third generation of the Barber family that lived and worked at Sotterley since the turn of the 20th century. During this talk, he gave insight into what it was like to be a child of Sotterley employees in the 1960s and shared memories from his childhood.
Historic Sotterley is committed to telling more than 300 years of this site’s history, and we’re incredibly lucky to have direct links to post-emancipation stories. Donald Barber is a Historic Sotterley Trustee Emeritus and has been an incredible advocate and voice for Historic Sotterley’s mission in his many years of support. The house that Donald grew up on has recently been moved to Historic Sotterley property to be restored and continue to tell the history. Previously, the house sat on a piece of property that had been parceled from Sotterley’s original acreage and sold off.
4. Ring the bell at our Sacred Space
In 2024, Historic Sotterley opened a dedicated space to remember the resilience, courage, strength, and grace of all those who lived and labored at Sotterley. It features two brick pillars that were already existing on the site topped by a metal arch designed by local blacksmith Jamie Abell and is decorated with butterflies by glass artisan April Tindall. Within the arch is a bell that you can ring to honor both your ancestors and the lives that came before us at Sotterley.
The Sacred Space is located on the edge of the woods behind the historic barn and is easily accessed. We welcome you to drop by and spend some time there reflecting and connecting to the past.
5. Explore your genealogy
The work of genealogists like Agnes Kane Callum, who researched and recorded African American family histories, is one of the most critical puzzle pieces that helps Historic Sotterley preserve history and share those stories with our visitors. Exploring your own genealogy can help you learn about the impactful figures in your family before you, and help you preserve and honor their stories for future generations.
We know that getting started can be daunting. We encourage the use of tools like FamilySearch and Ancestry.com to kickstart your journey. Historic Sotterley has also previously hosted descendant and researcher Jerome Spears to share his journey and more advanced approach to exploring genealogy. You can watch that video here.
Exploring your family history can also be about getting the younger generations interested and involved in the past. We have provided a simple worksheet below to familiarize kids with family trees, and encourage you to use it as an opportunity to tell the stories of their family members as they’re adding them to the tree. Simple conversations and sparked curiosity can be an impressive force in keeping history alive.
