Hampton's Sixth Annual African American Symposium

Early 19th century slave cabin at Hampton National Historic Site

Hampton National Historic Site hosts an annual African American history symposium at Goucher College each March. It attracts quite a mixed audience, from archivists and historians to members of the general public and sisters of the Oblate Sisters of Providence (the first religious order of women of color). Christopher Phillips, the symposium's keynote speaker and a professor at the University of Cincinnati, spoke about term slavery, an arrangement that was not common in slave states but was largely confined to Maryland. I was familiar with the large number of gradual emancipations from my research, so it was extremely helpful to have Dr. Phillips put this phenomenon into context. Many other states only allowed manumission through a will or by having the slave holder request special permission from the state legislature. However, term slavery through manumission, a legal document and enforceable contract, was unique to Maryland and gave slaves slight access to legal recourse if the manumission was violated. Even though it would have been quite challenging for slaves to muster the funds and legal representation needed to contest a violated manumission in court, Phillips found cases where they did so and the law ruled in their favor. This is another example of Maryland's ambivalent and contradictory attitudes toward slavery. Based on Dr. Phillips’ presentation and the recommendation of one of my colleagues, I’m adding Dr. Phillips’ book, Freedom’s Port: The African American Community in Baltimore, 1790-1860, to my reading list.

Kathryn Deely was another speaker whose research is relevant to my work. Kathryn is a doctoral student in archeology at the University of Maryland. She has been excavating backyards in Annapolis and is looking at the differences in archeological artifacts based on the race and class of the homes’ inhabitants during the 18th and 19th centuries. One of the properties that she has excavated was owned and rented out by William H. Butler, a wealthy, nineteenth century African American that I am researching. I spoke to her after her talk, and she gave me some good ideas for methodologies to use in researching Butler’s property ownership.

Reproduction iron slave collars and chains

After the symposium, the National Park Service provided a tour of Hampton’s slave quarters, which date from the early to mid-1800s. Angela Roberts-Burton, one of Hampton’s park rangers, gave an excellent, balanced tour and used primary sources, reproduction artifacts, and the built environment to support her historical narrative. Although I had visited Hampton before, it was well worth going on the guided tour as well as experiencing the tour as part of a diverse group. Audience questions were indicative of the larger public’s perceptions and misconceptions of slavery in America. Some people knew quite a bit about slavery while others had a hard time believing that sadistic brutality was endemic to the institution.