Sheffield — A three-day celebration of civil rights icon Elizabeth Freeman was held in town from Friday, August 19, to Sunday, August 21.
The celebration was held to coincide with the unveiling of a statue and a plaque for Freeman at the Town Green on August 21.
Freeman was born in Claverack-Red Mills, N.Y. around 1744 and died in Stockbridge in 1829. In Stockbridge, she worked as a housekeeper and nanny for the Sedgwick family.
The statue has been installed in the town’s Village Green and pays homage to Freeman, a slave who sued for her freedom and won it in 1781. Freeman won her case more than 80 years before the Emancipation Proclamation became law in January 1863.
The project to build the eight-foot-tall statue was announced last November by the Historical Society, Rep. Smitty Pignatelli (D-Lenox), The First Congregational Church of Sheffield, and the Berkshire Taconic Foundation.
The series started on August 19 with a roundtable discussion entitled “Elizabeth Freeman and the telling of Black Stories,” organized by The W.E.B. Du Bois Center for Freedom and Democracy, and included historians Dr. Frances Jones Sneed, Dr. Sari Edelstein, Dr. Kendra T. Field, and Dr. Kerri Greenidge, who all talked about Freeman’s life.
“We’re all interested in Freeman’s story in light of the unveiling of the statue,” Sneed said. “Enslaved people were rarely allowed to name themselves. Rather, they became known by the names of our enslavers. As soon as slavery ended, one of the first things that happened to the slave people is that they change their names, sometimes like the fanciful titles, such as queen, Esther, or surnames of kind masters of famous people.”
Sneed told the audience that Freeman would not like to be known as “Mum Bett” because it was a name that was given to her by the Sedgwick children whom she nannied.
“In the civil case, after she was free, she took her own name which was Elizabeth Freeman,” Sneed said. “In the 21st century, I think we as adults don’t want to call her by what the Sedgwick children called her. We should call her by the name that she claimed for herself.”
On August 20, the First Congregational Church of Sheffield was the host to the one woman play “Meet Elizabeth Freeman.” The play, written by Philadelphia-based playwright Teresa Miller, starred actress Wanda Houston who portrayed Freeman during the hour long performance.
On August 22, right before the statue unveiling ceremony, the 12th annual Elizabeth Freeman Walk to Freedom was held.
Participants took part in a walk from the Ashley House to Sheffield Green, where Freeman’s attorney Theodore Sedgwick had an office. The event was a commemoration of Freeman’s “walk to freedom” in hiring Sedgwick to represent her.
The three-day event concluded with the unveiling ceremony of the statue and commemorative plaque at the Town Green. Hundreds of people attended the event which was emceed by former Massachusetts First Lady Diane Patrick.
“This day marks a culmination of a year of tremendous hard work, commitment, and love from so many people,” Patrick said. “This is a culmination of a weekend of celebration to honor our unsung hero, Elizabeth Freeman.”
Patrick read to the audience a letter written by actress Meryl Streep, who has often named Freeman as an inspiration. “I am so happy that [Freeman] will be recognized for her bravery and the significant accomplishments that she was able to achieve in suing for and winning her freedom,” Streep wrote. “My congratulations and thanks to all of the people responsible for honoring her legacy.”
The next speaker at the event was Multicultural BRIDGE CEO and Founding Director Gwendolyn Hampton VanSant. According to its website, the Lee-based grassroots nonprofit organization is dedicated to equality and justice programs, education, and advocacy.
“Elizabeth Freeman was courageous and wise,” VanSant said. “She was a healer, a midwife, and a deep listener. She was also an entrepreneur, land and property owner, and activist in her own right. She held all of these roles and performed all of these functions as a Black woman in the Berkshires during the 18th century. Both I and my children will forever be inspired by, and are in awe of her legacy. For me, as a Black woman today, these events symbolize the bittersweet journey of the lives of liberation that Americans of African descent have been on for centuries now, and the seemingly insurmountable struggle sometimes for peace. This acknowledgment that Elizabeth Freeman’s story has been largely understated and untold, if not erased from our American history.”
VanSant said that the statue “memorializes the strength of her ancestors and those that continue to follow in her quest to stand up to prevail against sanctions and carefully constructed systemic racism. [The statue] memorializes the combined resolve ability and birthright of black American women to lead us all by example down the path to liberation.”
Former United States Ambassador to the Slovak Republic Theodore Sedgwick, who spoke at the ceremony, is the great grandson of Theodore Sedgwick, the attorney who represented Elizabeth Freeman in her case.
“For me today, this is a long overdue recognition of Elizabeth Freeman,” Sedgwick said. “We talk about her courage and we talk about her tenacity. But I would like to underscore her nobility. All of this comes out in her epitaphs as all of them say that she has no superior or equal.”
Finally, in the closing remarks to the ceremony, former Gov. Deval Patrick showed his appreciation to residents of Berkshire County.
“I want to thank all the members of the community, from Sheffield, Berkshire County and beyond, for lifting up Berkshire’s Black side,” Patrick said. “It’s been exciting and wonderful to have been your neighbor for 20 years now. It turns out that Black people have always been here. What a shame that so few of us fully appreciate that. What a shame that so little of our history is actually taught and understood. That is why today is so important on these merits. But the larger point is that Black people have always been a part of the American story.”
Patrick read a letter from former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
“It is an honor to join everyone in paying tribute to Elizabeth Freeman, an American hero whose story has not been told enough,” the Obamas wrote in their letter. “She was never taught how to read or write. Yet, she recognized that under an honest interpretation of our laws, she too was born free and equal. She endured abuse and humiliation, yet she helped our legal system begin to recognize the dignity of all people. In obtaining her own freedom from slavery, she brought our nation closer to fulfilling its founding promise. We hope that when people visit this monument that they are reminded of our shared responsibility to root out injustice, whenever we encounter it. There is no better tribute to her legacy.”