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Mrs. Lynne V. Cheney,
on her book "When Washington Crossed the Delaware"

“I love especially when I go to a school telling kids parts of a story that they‘ve never heard. In 'The Washington Book,' for example, you‘ll see pictures of African-Americans. Well, people of African descent who fought in the revolutionary war. And I think people don‘t often know that. And when you tell it to kids, you can kind of see their eyes light up with interest. You know, this is a diverse group of men that we have fighting here. And it‘s important that little kids understand that it wasn‘t just people who came here from Europe who defended our freedom, who fought in this war.”

2004

Anniversary Statement of the Month

Dr. Portia Shields
president of Albany State University

"Teachers, most critical to the educational development of young children, hear platitudes about developing pride and self-awareness to promote learning but receive precious little direction to inculcate these values in Black children. Education experts decry the importance of youngsters being able to identify themselves in books. Yet of the 25 publications written for children and young adults on as important period as the American Revolution, few before 1960 contained even pictures of black patriots. Fewer still made reference when pictures of blacks were included."

June 13, 1985

Oliver Cromwell
House

114 E. Union Street, Burlington, New Jersey was the final residence of Oliver Cromwell, African American Revolutionary War soldier. He lived to 100.

Cromwell joined the 2nd New Jersey Regiment under Colonel Israel Shreve. He received high praise for his military discipline, superior personal conduct, strong physical abilities, his dedication and sacrifice. Oliver crossed the Delaware with General George Washington Dec. 25, 1776.

Washington personally signed Cromwell’s discharge papers. He was decorated for serving in the entire conflict.

Burlington Tourism
kids finding history

Liberty Fund D.C. sees the memorial to black patriots as an important link between the past, the present and the future. Youth are the future of our nation. In order to assume their place as leaders, they must understand the impact of history on their own lives.

Kids can become better citizens and develop leadership skills by organizing their schools and communities to promote the memorial to forgotten soldiers, patriots and freedom seekers. In doing so, they will come to understand their struggle and themselves.

Land is set aside on the National Mall between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial until October 27 2005. On the October 28, 2005, the memorial could die unless thousands of Americans stand up for the forgotten black patriots in the next days.

(Illustrations, including "Time is Running Out," are from "Conscious Choices of African Americans during the American Revolution," Chandler/White Publishing, Chicago)
suggested activities to renew the memories of the black patriots...

1. If you live in one of the 13 original states, or one close by, try to find a grave stone, marker, or other object that commemorates the black patriots of the American Revolution, including a house where one of those heroes might have lived. Check your libraries and museums. Ask your teachers, parents, friends and neighbors who know the local history. When you find the landmark, take a digital picture -- and write a description. Send it to Liberty Fund D.C.. We will publish your work on this website, www.libertyfunddc.org. E-mail us the picture.  Click: e-mail us now.

2. Locate, using primary sources, names and contributions of black soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War, as well as those of freedom petitioners and runaway slaves of that era. Make note of marriages, families they founded, and the later accomplishments of their children.

3. List the specific contributions of individual Revolutionary era blacks, such as the founding of churches, self-help groups, and schools. Discuss the needs and issues of the day that these institutions would have addressed and potential impact on slaves and free blacks.

4. Prepare a classroom discussion on the contributions of Revolutionary era blacks to the founding of institutions and families and the propagation and perpetuation of ideas that would lay the foundation for the modern civil rights movement (A.M.E. Church, Prince Hall Masons, etc.)

5. Prepare a classroom discussion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s understanding of the importance of knowing history and what he meant by the words, "...a dream deeply rooted in the American dream," in his memorable 1963 "I have a Dream Speech." Wasn't this also the dream of Revolutionary era blacks?

6. Dramatize the life of Phyllis Wheatley, showing her tribute to George Washington and speculate on what the implications of Washington's praise for her work was to those who were trying to perpetuate myths about the intellectual limitations of blacks. Create and extend analogies of the lives of Jupiter Hammond and Lucy Terry Prince as Phyllis Wheatley's peers and contemporaries. Note works dealing with freedom and Africa.

7. Create and present a docudrama of Elizabeth Freeman's successful suit for her freedom based on hearsay about the Massachusetts Bill of Rights.

8. Prepare a debate between Prince Hall and Thomas Jefferson which might have taken place during a mock drafting session between the two on the wording of the Declaration of Independence.

9. Prepare a classroom recreation of the Constitutional Convention as it might have been if it had included as delegates Prince Hall, Richard Allen and Absalom Jones. How they might have addressed the major issues before the delegates?

10. Establish an integrated time line of Revolutionary War patriots (include soldiers, runaway slaves, and freedom petitioners). Survey students to measure recognition of names and contributions of black Revolutionary War patriots. Use the survey results as a teaching tool for tabulating and interpreting primary sources.

11. Schedule a visit to the proposed site of the Black Revolutionary War Patriots Memorial on the Mall at Constitution Gardens. Discuss how the memorial would help to restate American history and the role of blacks in the nation's founding.

12. Prepare poems and short essays on what the memorial will mean to children and adults of today and to future generations.

 

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