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Between Freedom and Equality - The History of an African American Family in Washington, DC (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R682
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Between Freedom and Equality - The History of an African American Family in Washington, DC (Hardcover)
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An original history of six generations of an African American
family living in Washington, DC Between Freedom and Equality begins
with the life of Capt. George Pointer, an enslaved African who
purchased his freedom in 1793 while working for George Washington's
Potomac Company. It follows the lives of six generations of his
descendants as they lived and worked on the banks of the Potomac,
in the port of Georgetown, and in a rural corner of the nation's
capital. By tracing the story of one family and their experiences,
Between Freedom and Equality offers a moving and inspiring look at
the challenges that free African Americans have faced in
Washington, DC, since the district's founding. The story begins
with an 1829 letter from Pointer that is preserved today in the
National Archives. Inspired by Pointer's letter, authors Barbara
Boyle Torrey and Clara Myrick Green began researching this
remarkable man who was a boat captain and supervisory engineer for
the Potomac canal system. What they discovered about the lives of
Pointer and his family provides unique insight across two centuries
of Washington, DC, history. The Pointer family faced many
challenges-the fragility of freedom in a slaveholding society,
racism, wars, floods, and epidemics-but their refuge was the small
farm they purchased in what is now Chevy Chase. However, in the
early twentieth century, the DC government used eminent domain to
force the sale of their farm and replaced it with an all-white
school. Between Freedom and Equality grants Pointer and his
descendants their long-overdue place in American history. This book
includes a foreword by historian Maurice Jackson exploring the
significance of the Pointer family's unique history in the capital.
In another very personal foreword, James Fisher, an
eighth-generation descendant of George Pointer, shares his complex
emotions when he learned about his ancestors. Also featured in this
important history is a facsimile and transcription of George
Pointer's original letter and a family tree. Royalties from the
sale of the book will go to Historic Chevy Chase DC (HCCDC), which
has established a fund for promoting the legacy of George Pointer
and his descendants.
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