A Different Story: An African American Heritage Driving Tour
(Allow two hours)
Begin your African American heritage tour at the Fredericksburg Visitor Center where you will meet your step-on guide. Starting with a narrative about the first slaves arriving at what is now called “City Dock,” the tour encompasses the colonial and Revolutionary period when the population of slaves and free blacks was about the same as the white population. The driving tour travels past Kenmore where Fielding Lewis, George Washington's brother-in-law, lived. For a while, Lewis ran a school for slaves because he wanted them to be able to read the prayer book at church.
The driving tour leads past Shiloh Old Site and Shiloh New Site churches, the auction block, where property, including slaves, was sold; the area where the John deBaptiste family, early Fredericksburg gentry and businessmen lived and the Moncure Conway House in Falmouth, childhood home of the renowned abolitionist, writer and lecturer. It also includes a drive by Free Alley, a path leading south where slaves could walk freely to town without having a pass and past Kenmore where Fielding Lewis, George Washington’s brother-in-aw, lived. For a while, Lewis ran a school for slaves because he wanted them to be able to read the prayer book at church. The tour ends with Civil War history and a drive near Sunken Road, past National Cemetery where the grave of Urbane Bass is located. Bass, the first black doctor who volunteered to serve in the Army, was killed in France in World War I. He was the first black officer buried in the cemetery.
(Allow two hours for the driving tour.)
The following sites may be added to your tour:
The Mary Washington House was the home of the mother of the father of our country. She lived here from 1772 until her death in 1789. Slave quarters over the original kitchen stand behind the house. Some of her slaves were willed to relatives. Allow 45 minutes
Kenmore was the home of Fielding and Betty Lewis. Betty was the sister of George Washington. Colonel Lewis owned a gunnery which supplied arms for the Revolutionary War. He also owned ships important in the Revolutionary War. The Dragon, built in Fredericksburg, was used to patrol the Rappahannock River and parts of the Chesapeake Bay. Some of the area’s slaves were freed after service as sailors on his ships and prospered as free blacks. Allow 60 minutes
Chatham, which now belongs to the National Park Service, was the site of a rebellion in January, 1805. Some of the estate’s slaves refused to return to work after the Christmas holidays. Several persons were killed. Chatham was also the home of Hannah Coalter who owned more than 90 slaves. When she died in 1857, her will gave her slaves the choice of becoming fee and migrating to Liberia or the North, or remaining a slave and choosing one of her relatives to live with. The will was declared void because blacks were not considered to be people, and therefore had no freedom of choice. Allow 45 minutes
Fredericksburg Area Museum and Cultural Center, the old Town Hall, completed in 1816, was built by whites and free blacks, although blacks were not allowed to sell produce in the market square behind it. After the Civil War, the Fredericksburg Freedmen’s Bureau had offices in this building from 1866-1869. The Freedmen’s Bureau was established by the U. S. government to set up schools for blacks, to set up a judicial and political system in which blacks could participate, and to help blacks obtain necessities of life. Allow 45 minutes
Belmont, the Gari Melchers Memorial Gallery is the home of the late artist, Gari Melchers, who painted portraits of area persons and scenes of Fredericksburg. Some of his models were area African Americans. Additional portraits and scenes featuring area blacks, which may not be on display at the time, can be brought out for viewing. Allow 75 minutes
James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library is on the site where James Monroe practiced law. Later he was governor of Virginia and President of the United States. Monrovia, the capitol of the African country of Liberia was named for him because of his interest and activity in the American Colonization Society which encouraged black migration to Liberia. Allow 45 minutes