Event
27 Hours Ordeal of Henry "Box" Brown.
Fee:
Free. The talk is Free!Location:
The talk is at New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, downtown New Bedford, Ma on 33 William StDates & Times
Date:
Time:
Duration:
Type of Event
The talk starts at 2:30 pm and ends at 3:30 pm.
Description
Think about your life for a minute and how does it compare to the life of those enslaved African Americans during American slavery days. Why were they not citizens? Think of all the opportunities you had and think of the opportunities those enslaved people never had. Are opportunities today the same for all now that we are all free and enjoying countless freedoms.
To what extent will you go to defend that freedom for all and what does it mean to be an American or citizen?
Join ranger Rufai as he shares the life of Henry “Box” Brown in relation to freedom, equality, and justice.
Henry Brown was born into slavery in Virginia in 1815. Brown dreamed of freedom and convinced a storekeeper to ship him in a crate to freedom.
On March 29, 1849, Brown climbed into a wooden box that was 3-feet and 1-inch long, 2-feet and 6-inches high, and 2-feet wide, and had three holes for air. Brown carried water and a tool for boring more holes with him into the box.
His friends sealed the box with nails, and Brown was shipped express from Richmond, Virginia to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The box traveled onto a wagon and steamboat. Though marked "this side up," Brown's box was turned upside down twice during the 27-hour ride, and once remained so for 18 miles.
"I felt my eyes swelling as if they would burst from their sockets; and the veins on my temples were dreadfully distended with pressure of blood upon my head.
—Henry Brown, Narrative of the Life of Henry Box Brown, Written by Himself
Upon arriving in Philadelphia, the city's vigilance committee sent Brown on to New York City. From there, he was sent to Joseph Ricketson in New Bedford.
“I received your very valuable consignment of 200 pounds of Humanity last evening and as merchants say will dispose of it to the best advantage,” Ricketson wrote to New York abolitionist Sydney Howard Gay on March 30, 1849.
Following his arrival in Massachusetts, Brown joined the growing abolitionist movement. He attended meetings in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New York. There, he found support from friends and other anti-slavery advocates.
Reservation or Registration: No
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