Christmas Days in Old Virginia

Bill Tucker

Re-enactment of Jane, Booker T. Washington's mother, in the kitchen cabin, during Christmas or The Big Times, as the slaves called it.

THE LAST GOOD CHRISTMAS: A CELEBRATION UNDER THE SHADOW OF IMPENDING WAR

Hardy, VA - On Saturday, December 4, from 3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., join the park rangers and volunteers at Booker T. Washington National Monument for "The Last Good Christmas: A Celebration Under the Shadow of Impending Civil War." This event will kickoff many special programs in the next several years commemorating the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War at Booker T. Washington National Monument. Visitors will learn how Christmas was celebrated on a plantation in 1860 and of the mixed feelings and uncertainty of the country and of the residents on the Burroughs plantation in 1860.

Listen to whispered conversations among the residents and visitors on the Burroughs plantation as they the elections of 1860 and talk of secession, and Christmas, also known as "The Big Times," in 1860. Discover how Christmas was celebrated on the eve of the American Civil War while enjoying sights, smells, and tastes of an antebellum Christmas with candlelit costumed tours, children's activities, storytelling and hot apple cider and gingerbread.

 Booker T. Washington described Christmas in the mid-nineteenth century as he remembered it. "…In my opinion the real Christmas must be spent in the country, and I cannot but feel that there is in the Virginia Christmas atmosphere a fragrance and an influence which is not to be found elsewhere." Would you like to take a trip back to an Old Virginia Christmas? What would your opinions be as a northerner or southerner, enslaved person or free, in 1860?

 The afternoon programs will include children's activities from 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. and then feeding of the animals from 4:30 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. Walking tours including costumed interpreters will be held at 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Join us for a Christmas from long ago Snow date is Sunday, September 5, 2010. Admission is free. No reservations are required. Contact Booker T. Washington National Monument at [phone] for more information.

 

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