Archer alexander
The Untold story of an American Hero
Tag: Dorris Keeven-Franke
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Missouri was a slave state that the great orator Henry Clay had compromised with over 10,000 enslaved people when it reached statehood.
The Emancipation Monument
The Emancipation Monument “Freedom’s Memorial” was paid for entirely by funds from the formerly enslaved. It sits in Lincoln Park in Washington, D.C. today. It was dedicated by Frederick Douglass on April 14, 1876.
28th September 1829 – Thirty-third entry
The caravan completed its’ crossing of the state of Indiana. America was on the move.These things are not on the mind of these fifty weary travelers, of which Archer Alexander is a member. In 1876, the Freedom’s Memorial a monument in Washington, D.C. was the vision of thousands of the formerly enslaved people that President Lincoln had helped free. The monument with Archer Alexander (1806-1880) portrays a slave who had worked to free himself, had broken and thrown off his shackles and was rising with the vision of the future on his face. The face of freedom.
Hidden History of the Emancipation Monument
Learn the Hidden History of the Emancipation Monument from historians, researchers and authors.
26 September 1829 – Thirty-first entry
On the road for thirty-seven days, William Campbell’s journal tells us that Archer and the caravan have traveled over five-hundred miles. As these four families, and their enslaved people from Lexington, Virginia move to Saint Charles County in Missouri they would also travel through today’s West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. In 1829, roads were… read more
24 September 1829 – Twenty-ninth entry
This would have been 23 year-old Archer’s first encounter of a place where blacks enjoyed freedom! Campbell would write: Next day passed through a barren corner of Harrison Co. It is destitute of both wood and water. Poor soil covered with low brush. The roads alternately good and bad.Crossed Blue River at Fredericksburg…
23 September 1829 – Twenty-eighth entry
Next day proceeded on our way to Louisville, a handsome well built business-like place on the Ohio River. Staid sometime in market house which was abundantly supplies with fish, flesh, fruit and vegetables. Supplied ourselves with provisions and left…
22 September 1829-Twenty-seventh entry
This is the journey of Archer, the enslaved property of James Alexander of Lexington, Virginia. Alexander is a member of a caravan of families moving from Rockbridge County, Virginia to Saint Charles County Missouri. If we listen closely to this journal of William Campbell, we might hear the voices of the enslaved… after all this is their story too. Archer Alexander is the face of freedom on the Emancipation Monument in Washington DC.
22 August 1829 – Third entry
Written 191 years ago, this is the journal of William M. Campbell. This is also the story of Archer Alexander, an enslaved man born in Lexington, Virginia, who was taken to Missouri in 1829 and who is with President Lincoln on the Emancipation Monument in Washington, D.C. today. Campbell’s journal is being shared so that we may hear all the voices, including those whose voices were not shared originally.
From Slavery to Freedom
Free program via Zoom about Archer Alexander’s journey from Rockbridge County Virginia to Missouri in 1829. Details below…
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