6:00 PM – Kuumba Dance Ensemble

Location: Gari Melchers Home and Studio at Belmont

Experience the Rhythm: An Interactive West African Drum & Dance Workshop
Experience the energy and traditions of West African music and dance with Kuumba Dance & Drum Ensemble. Presented in partnership with the Slave Dwelling Project, this hands-on workshop invites participants of all ages and experience levels to explore authentic rhythms, movement, and the cultural traditions of the African diaspora. No experience is necessary—just bring your curiosity and enthusiasm!

Workshop Highlights
Learn traditional West African drumming and dance from professional artists.
Explore rhythms such as Balanta, Kakilambé, Yankadi, or Makru.
Discover the cultural significance and history behind the music and movement.
Choose to participate through drumming, dancing, or both.
Enjoy a culminating community performance celebrating what you’ve learned.
Connect with others through a fun, engaging, and inclusive cultural experience.

*Free Event – Advance reservation required.  Reserve you free ticket online.

10:00 am – Joseph McGill Kickoff Event

Location: George Washington’s Ferry Farm

Slave Dwelling Project Founder, Joseph McGill, tells the story of the inception of the Slave Dwelling Project and discusses the purpose behind his work to honor stories of slavery and emancipation and to preserve their associated sites.

*Ticketed Event – Advance ticket purchase required. Purchase tickets online. 

11:00 am – 3:00 pm – Brickmaking Demonstrations

Location: James Monroe Museum

Drop by for demonstrations showcasing historic brickmaking techniques in the courtyard of the James Monroe Museum.

Free and open to the Public, No RSVP required, but encouraged.

11:30 am – Traditional Cooking Demonstrations

Location: Mary Washington House

Join Washington Heritage Museums and the Slave Dwelling Project for a hearth-cooking demonstration at the eighteenth-century Mary Washington House, exploring the culinary knowledge and skilled labor of the enslaved cooks who shaped colonial foodways. Living historians will prepare period dishes over an open hearth using traditional techniques and tools, while sharing the stories and lived experiences of the enslaved men and women whose expertise sustained households like this one. The demonstration will also examine the household hierarchy behind the kitchen: as mistress of the house, Mary Washington would have controlled access to costly imported spices and ingredients, doling them out and often directing recipes from her own household receipt book — while the enslaved cooks carried out the true skilled labor of transforming those rationed ingredients into meals, drawing on techniques and knowledge of their own. This program continues the Slave Dwelling Project’s mission of preserving and honoring the too-often-overlooked history of enslaved people at historic sites across the country.

Free and open to the Public, No RSVP required, but encouraged

1:30 pm – “A Slave No More”

Location: Falmouth Beach (Rappahannock River, Stafford County)

Join the community for a riverside ceremony honoring those who self-emancipated in 1862. This event will include voices of a self-emancipation descendant, a Libation ceremony, and a reading from John Washington’s account of his escape to freedom.

Free and open to the Public, No RSVP Required, but encouraged. Shuttles will be available.

3:00 pm – Avenues to Freedom: Laundry Demonstrations and the story of Ellen Mitchell

Location: Chatham (National Park Service site, Stafford County)

Free and open to the Public, No RSVP required, but encouraged. Shuttles will be available.

6:30 pm – African American Foodways

Location: St. George’s Episcopal Church

Food Historian, Michael Carter, Jr. will present on African American foodways at St. George’s Church. Chef Joy Crump with Foode will provide the refreshments that coincide with Michael Carter’s presentation.  Michael Carter, Jr. is an 11th generation farmer in the United States with a family century farm in Orange County, Virginia. 

*Ticketed Event – Advance ticket purchases are recommended; Limited tickets may be available onsite if space remains.

8:00 pm – Stories of Freedom

Location: TBD

Join a storyteller to hear formerly enslaved woman, Eliza Gwinn’s, story of escape to freedom in 1862 and her life with her husband Dunmore in Georgetown, Washington, DC. After they freed themselves, they set up a candy shop and took in washing. Please bring a chair for this stationary event.

Free and open to the Public, No RSVP required, but encouraged.

10:00 AM – Emancipation Stories

Location: Fredericksburg Area Museum

*Free Event – Advance reservation required.  Reserve you free ticket online.

2:00 PM – Guided Gallery Tour: Living Legacies

Location: Fredericksburg Area Museum

*Free Event – Advance reservation required.  Reserve you free ticket online.

4:00 pm – The History Lesson

Location: Fredericksburg Area Museum

Set in 1860, The History Lesson tells the story of Hattie Rose, a young, enslaved woman who defies the confines of slavery by secretly learning to read and write under the tutelage of Frank Turner, Esq., a man kidnapped into slavery. Lewis, her father, hardened by decades of survival, confronts Turner in a contest of wills weighing the value of an education against the brutal consequences of breaking the law, which forbade the enslaved from learning to read and write. Amid rising tensions of forbidden knowledge and the discovery of a love triangle, Hattie Rose and Frank acknowledge their feelings for one another, revealing a deep bond forged through compassion and shared struggle. Written by founder of Somewhere in Time Productions, and local playwright, Malanna Henderson, the play’s themes included courage versus fear, education as empowerment and the pursuit of freedom against all odds.

*Ticketed Event – Advance ticket purchase required. Purchase tickets online.