Test. Test. Test. Test. Captioning performed by vitac and what slavery did. So we try to soften it, its part of our bargaining. So inevitably somebody was going to ask the question and they did every day, well, are they good to you . Slavery isnt that bad, is it . I mean, look how youre dressed, at least you have your children with you. And, you know, it would be that kind of thing, which was, you know, no matter how well intentioned, its still annoying. Fortunately enough i was playing a character where i could let that be known. But the problem was that we were doing the work of the household, so we sat down with barney and i said, man, listen, im tired of hauling wood every day, you know, rose and i are out here hauling buckets of water, working in the garden, we are working like slaves. We want to be clear, we portray them. So, you know, so we need to work something out with the Landscape Department or something. So, sure enough they did, they made sure we had wood already stacked, they didnt just drop it off in the back of the house, they made sure that the gardens were tended to so at least when we went out there and gathered stuff up from the garden we didnt have to go through all this extra. I mean, it was it was crazy what we were trying to do, but it was profound at the same time, but we had this this area of cushion and there were people, again, these historic interpreters who agreed to be a part of this program with us to take people on that journey and so this was by that point we are ten years in, right, the first decade has been done and were looking at how we can be better. And theres one persons name that i think we need to also highlight here who i wish was on this stage with us, and thats robert c. Watson. Robert c. Watson [ applause ] was the director who came in, he came in as assistant director to rex and then became director of africanamerican interpretations and presentations and what he gave us was our africanness in the africanamerican. He had a wealth as a scholar in that area he had a wealth of understanding about west African Peoples and traditions and language and material culture and helped us really dissect that historical record, where despite all of their people like marley brown who was in the archeology department, as good as they were at understanding 18th century life, there were objects and things that they had no intellectual or academic Reference Point for. Robert helped provide that groundwork. So that was for me that was also another extremely important game changer in terms of the evolution of the program over time. Yeah, and so by that time when we get into the early 90s weve got robust programming thats going on all day, every day, all over the historic area and, you know, were trying to and we were theres Something Else and i because i am going to so one of the things that we as we were doing this and we were gaining morale lies out in the field with the other interpreters, the question always came there were two questions that seemed to keep coming up, whose history is it and who has a right to teach it. We were going through sort of these cultural discussions and things like that, and and could we, should we even consider bringing white interpreters into africanamerican interpretation . Where that would be their intellectual and work focus. Should we . Could we . And so when i became the director in 94 of the program i had made the decision that we would try it. That we would do it. Do i regret that . No. But what it did is that it created i believe it really did create a false confidence that, oh, well, clearly now, you know, everybody can do it, were training everybody, you know, we may not need the department anymore. Well just, you know, break it down in different ways and well and it was an extraordinarily painful thing for me to figure this out and how to make it work because i understood the department wasnt just the intellectual focus that we had, but it was this thing that rex and everyone has talked about here, it was about a certain connectedness. We lifted each other up when those difficult moments came and so my concern was where is the support going to be for the interpreters if this is split up . Can we are they Strong Enough given the now the numbers of people that we have across the foundation in varying roles. I had hoped that they would be Strong Enough to sustain each other during that period of transition. And it was a crazy period. We reorganized the historic area three times in three years and it was it was mind numbing. It was absolutely mind numbing trying to kind of keep this like cocoon while all of these other transitions were going on. At the end of the day i think that the program what ended up happening is that nobody had their eye on it the same way and didnt have the same resources of being at the directors table and there inn i thought was the big difference. It just became one of the programs that im responsible for, versus someone advocating every day for those resources. You know, again, that was that was a point for me of real struggle during that time. On the Positive Side of it is that it did broaden this idea that all of this is our story of williamsburg. You cannot understand early america, you cannot understand how we could evolve as a nation allegedly built on the ideals of freedom and liberty and all of those wonderful words that we say in the midst of slavery. And so we were able to really delve into the political and social and emotional intricacy of that. So thats when, you know, i we started pushing this idea a lot harder because we had now had white actors that were working with us, we now had, you know, folks that were doing the other half tour, we had more influence in the in what was happening on the tours themselves through the historic area so that every house the idea was that every building that you went into you heard this story from the interpreters. And that was quite and that was when Steve Elliott was Vice President of the foundation and bob wilbourn who was a big advocate of this, he was bob was a huge advocate of this and the and the first big test really for us was when we did the estate slave auction event in 94 and our team, africanamerican interpretive team, agreed together that we would do it, but everybody knew that they could not take that stage. You know, talked to dilan about it and they came and portrayed somebody for us in the crowd as the free men. It was just a different you know, that next decade, again, was testing what we had done to see, you know, could we make this work on a larger scale the way we said we wanted every visitor to know who walked through Colonial Williamsburg that 52 of the population was black. Everyone had to know that basic fact and what it meant. Right . Theres i dont think that we talked about the actual structure of the department and how we got to where christy is speaking of. Rex can speak to it better than i, but i know because i was a supervisor of the interpreters and doing the programs and so in the beginning we had africanamerican programs, which was an entity in itself. The people that interpreted were the people that did evening programs and those who were in what was called what we were calling in ccp, the company of colonial performers. Right. But africanamerican programs was part of that. So anybody that was in costume that did evening programs was fair game to do any of our programs. As christy had mentioned about the characters at the Benjamin Powell house, they werent in the same department, but we saw each other, we did programs together, we went to green leaf cafe afterwards to get a feather burger, you know. Thats all i got. You know, i mean, we talked to each other and we had a group of people that were on the same mission and we could share those what happened during the day kind of events. Later on, and maybe we will share a little bit more when we talk to the employees about some of the things that they that need to be said, but this isnt the right forum to say it because there are just certain things that you keep in your house, but, anyway, when they got when christy is speaking of them no better word to use than water down the mission, to water it down the interpretation by taking you and putting you in different areas. That was no that was nothing new. It had been tried before, but wasnt successful. What im trying to say is that we had become a group of interpreters that knew the value and the strength of that togetherness in mission and those who interpreted africanAmerican History. The time the times were changing, administrations were changing, Vice President s were changing and things were basically changing. Cant go back to where we were, but didnt want to take a step back and things were a little bit different. One thing i wanted to say about this estate sale, when it started and the protests started and all of that happened i kind of saw the ring leader so i sat off to the side and right before the sale of all the items happened i kind of did like that, he came and sat beside me. I said, you know that they do this every year. He said, what . I said, they do an estate sale every year. I said, they do this every year. He said really . I said, yeah, watch, you just watch. I knew what was happening, i said theyre going to sell some land now, watch him. And they did whatever. I said the only difference is the department wanted this em to see a face. This he wanted to see situations, they wanted to see a mother pregnant sold, they wanted to see a family being set up sold. Because normally they just sell sally and you never see sally. He said so they do this every year. I said, yeah, this he do this every year. I was kind of casual, oh, yeah, every year. I said they just wanted you to see somebody. They wanted to put some heart to this. He said yeah. And then christy came out and Robert Watson came out with his tour. I said now theyre going to sell a man with his tools. Listen. Listen. And he listened. By the end of all of that he said, well, if i would have known the history, then i maybe wouldnt be here. And i went, oh, okay. So whoever was in charge of explaining what they were going to see weeks beforehand, they didnt do a good job. Well, im sorry, i did. No. No. No. No. No. Dylan, go back and explain to them what youre talking about. You werent just talking to a visitor. Oh, no. You were talking to protesters. There are a lot who may not know about the estate sale. So just go back and im sorry. Christy can probably explain it more than me. The reaction to the estate sale. Every year there is an estate every year Colonial Williamsburg did a program on columbus day weekend called the kings ascension weekend and part of that programming had always been one of these auctions on the steps of someones property. Of one of the taverns. So we were still africanamerican programs then and we had a conversation about isnt it about time. So that didnt happen from that happened that originated in africanamerican interpretations and we took that to barney and we said, this is what we want to do. He was like, oh, my god, are you sure . I was like, yeah, thats what we want to do. And so i went out and started talking to local naacp, i talked to folks in the churches that, you know, st. John, first baptist, little zion, had the interpreters do the same. So we were out we thought ahead of it by getting to our community. What blew it up was when the Richmond Times dispatch somebody who didnt know. Somebody who didnt know, who didnt bother to call put in like this little snippy kind of editorial and before you know it i had friends calling me from new york saying, hey, i heard you getting ready to sell black people to tourists in williamsburg. I was like, man, are you kidding me . So then we did have to heavily, heavily manage the story because the spin was in every different direction you can imagine by the time we got there. Yeah, it was crazy. It was crazy. I was in arizona at Luke Air Force base in my barracks room watching yall on cnn. Saying, oh, i know her. And i picked up the phone and called brinetta, i talked to brinetta jones, brinetta wake at the time and rose, rose mcafee at the time. I didnt want to be in the military. When i saw that clip, i wanted to come home because i wanted to be home with my family. And i think the because i know time is running out, so theres one thing thats been said and weve kind of talked about this a little bit and i think its before we open up for q a, i would love to hear somebody unpack for me or explain to the people the togetherness. Christy, you explained like a situation that you had, you know, and you had a support system. I dont and coming and having been in minnesota, been in a whole different environment, a whole different situation, i can understand how important that support network was amongst you all and many of the folks some folks even in the audience. How did yall get that . I would say a certain rooting in faith. We had a similar faith tradition. So when we were in points of crisis it was no or even points of joy, there was no hesitation about holding each others hands and saying a prayer before a program. Actually, we used to do that practically every program. Every program. The challenge came for us later when we had Staff Members who came in who had different faith traditions, particularly if they were muslim or we had one person that came in later who was a buddhist and you dont want to create an environment where they dont feel welcome. Right. But we still have to kind of embrace them in that moment. So that i will say that sort of initial rooting in faith and just, lord, watch over us, kind of thing, and that required not only the lord watching over you, but you had to watch for each other. And so that was i know for me one of the things. And then its just shared experience. Listen, when you know, whether it was 79 or 89 or 99, i can tell you right now there werent a lot of people doing the work that we were doing. Bottom line. So it wasnt like you could as a matter of fact, one of the despite wherever people landed on us choosing to have done that auction, what it did change is that other institutions the phone calls and the letters that i got from mon cello, mt. Vernon, mt. Pill yer, all of them were saying, my god, if you can do that we at least can be talking about black presence at our sites. Yeah. So it changed the game in that way. But again, there still werent that many black people doing costume work, let alone in museum work beyond the ethnicspecific institutions. We were in a funny place with some of them, right . Our colleagues in ethnicspecific institutions, you know, were like why are you doing that . You need to be, you know, working in your own institutions where you are really going to be loved well. Thats another thing. But its this that to me is what created it. I mean, thats the space. We had shared experience, we had a respect for the work, we had a shared faith tradition and we just were passionate about what we had to do. It wasnt what we chose to do, it was what we had to do. Right. So at different you know, and people have come in and out of this journey because it is wearing work. It is wearing work. Rex, i want to say this and then please say something. When christy was speaking of religion, i remember and my problem is, yall, i name names. Shonsadin mohammed was muslim and he came to me for the williamsburg black and white program, he said i want to do a chant before this program. I said what kind of chant are you going to do . He said im going to do a muslim chant. I said sing it for me. I aint making fun, but its not like no, it was true. And i said what are you saying . I said write it down. He wrote it down, he wasnt saying nothing he started the program with it. People in the audience probably didnt know what he was saying unless you were muslim, but its the its the fact that he wanted to do something for his faith. Now, we had jehovahs witness, we had white folk, could have been catholic or atheist. Or jew. Forecayes. They stood in the circle when they prayed, they held hands with everybody else when we played. It aint their prayer but it had to do with that togetherness and purpose and thats thats what we had, you know, and it was its a respect of your religion regardless. It was what we were doing what was important. I came back in 2001 to be Vice President of the historic area and one of the first things that i remember doing publicly was a gathering of Fire Department and police and everyone after 9 11, because there were people here who were visitors who really didnt know how to sort of take what was happening. Our world changed. Our entire world changed during 9 11. And i remember Colin Campbell who was the president then said, rex, i want you to lead to lead the ceremony on the steps of the of the capitol that was the courthouse, was the place that we all did it. We invited visitors and everybody else came. I didnt know what to say and i ended up saying at the beginning we might have come to this country on different ships, but we are in the same boat now. That was what i think would answer your question. Whether we were muslim or whether we were buddhist or whether we were catholic, whatever we were, when we donned that costume, there was a shared camaraderie that didnt supercede faith and religion, but allowed us to embrace all of the religions, even those who were questioning whether religion was possible because we were all in the same boat. We were all dealing with the same things. We were all trying to make sense and trying to create dignity and trying to create integrity and trying to educate the public that came, all of us were trying to do it in our own individual ways, but we were all trying to do the same they think. So we were all in the same boat, richard. Uhhuh. You know, i was thinking of i was thinking of those people that i mentioned and how much more expansive that is because there were many people in some of the historic buildings, interpreters, the guides, who were who were just as supportive. They didnt know how to say anything other than, good job, or to nod. So although these are a group of black folks, there are a lot of white folks that were behind us. I did a program i told some stories at the National Voting Rights Museum outside of salem and they had a group of a group was there, the freedom singers. Heard them sing their songs. Afterwards we were at a picnic table and i said, it he will me something i wouldnt know unless i was a freedom singer. And they said, well, you know, we sung and they raised money to get people out of jail who were being jailed for civil Rights Violations and stuff, he said, but whenever we did our music we couldnt go, we couldnt leave because they would see us, we were the only black people there and there would always be the klan out on the road. He said what we would do is i hope i aint giving away no secrets he said usually there were some jewish people and we would get in their trunk and we would go to separate houses and we would get in their trunk because as we went by the klan didnt see any black people, they just saw cars going by. Then 3 00 or 4 00 in the morning we would get back together and get out of town. I said really . He said, man, you wouldnt know how people helped us during that time. White people helped us. I have always thought about that because although as the president said, its africanAmerican History but its American History. And theres some people that embraced that because they may have a certain history thats not being told. Women, you know, children, oh, thats why i loved our performer program because we put children up there. Even in hiring people in the beginning wanted a variety. Its hard to get men, but we had to have a variety. I wont mention no names. So we had to have some 50yearolds, 60yearolds and some gray hairs, yeah, we had one or two. Which we are now. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, so its good to have a range of people, but theres a lot of support. There was a lot of support in the churches. Once they figured out what was going on, you know, and it just takes a while, but once they said, oh, yeah, theyre doing something positive. We like that, too. And then it begins going around to the employees, even the people in the hotels and big props i have to go way back to pipe and drum, big props to this brother at kings arms tavern. When i was in pipe and drum and would go down the street id always salute them because the brother would be out there, the brother, he would be serving. He would come out there, look at my man. My man right there. My man. Thats my man. And big props to him. And ms. Epps, anybody who know ms. Epps, she was 100 years old, whenever she heard the pipe and drum she would come and sit there and would always wave and i would salute here every time. Thats the kind of encouragement that africanamerican programs needed. If we dont get it from the left we get it from each other. Thats what was important because we understood. You know, we understood what the day was like and what you may have gone through. So i think weve run out of time. Weve run out of time. But we just want to get a couple questions. While we get the mic for anybody who helped us in the programs or your name has been called, please stand so we can recognize who you are. Thank you. Thank you. [ applause ] i think that your point at the end about how did we do this is relative because in 79 i came in in 79 rex brought some people and dylan brought some people who had some heart, too, because it wasnt it wasnt easy. No. And we had to rely on each other because i remember as a muslim i wanted we did some research and we found that there were muslims in that 52 . There were some people that never gave the tradition. And i played that character very often, but i also played the reverend, you know. So we had to deal with those traditions. And i want to share two things that happened, one was it was the night the night tours, and virginia has this unique rain that comes at night, you know, its not really raining but its nasty. Yeah. And i had to be out there at night and people would walk up to me and here i would kind of leap out at them and sometimes i would just get up from making prayers or whatever out there and i got cold. Only had on a white shirt. I got cold and i will never forget harvey cradle came up to me i said, i need a jacket, im losing my voice. Im an actor. And he brought me back an old blanket and he said, if you were a slave this is all you would have gotten. And that was powerful. And that did something that christy said and i dont want you to miss it, the word she used. This experience taught me never to use the word slave again. My people were not slaves, they were enslaved. There is a difference. Yall think about that. Second point was i went to gorey island and i carried my costume and i taught at the school and as i left in tears the students and teachers said, the african knows of michael jordan, but he doesnt know you. Nobody let us tell our story over those 400 years draw people at gorey at st. Louie and so you have to get about that. Final point, there are probably only 200 actual tapes of people who were enslaved now in the national archives. Theres not many. Am i right, rex . There are not many. So we did the best that we could. And im dr. I wish mail conway and this is my wife dr. Ayanna conway and we both were interpreters and we took the work on of the Stage Company and we spent a career interpreting and im very proud and honored to be here. [ applause ] first of all, id like to say that this has been a real eye opening experience for me. My wife and i moved here to williamsburg because of your stories. We didnt have a clue. I knew grew up all over the United States and one of the all time strangest places i ever lived in my life was mississippi. I was nine years old, i didnt understand it. Now i get a sense of what the hell was going on because i was too young to get it. You are to be commended and congratulated for putting it out there in terms of the risk and the emotional risk that you have put on that stage that you went into battle on those streets in williamsburg every day. I consider it an incredible honor to meet you. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you. I have a question that id like to ask. Can you stand up . Were there any free slaves that were merchants during the 1700s. Do you mean free black people . Yes. That were merchants in williamsburg . In williamsburg or merchants that were blacks that were free slaves . Freed men. Yall get it. Dont be upset. Weve got it. I dont know of any. I know of somebody that was in yorktown in the 18th century, i cant think of the brothers name, but i dont know of any in williamsburg that would have i dont know what they would be selling. [ inaudible ]. There were they were people who sort of applied their own training and applied their own visions and made there were blacks who also had gardens and garden plots and sold vegetables and things like that on the weekends, but market square. In market square. But in terms of not shop owners. Entrepreneurs in the 18th century, im pretty sure they were few and far between. I dont know ive forgotten what i did know about york county records. John rollinson is the one that comes to mind. So a few to answer your question. Martha can answer that. Too. [ inaudible ]. No doubt. No doubt. Carters grove was the rural story of Colonial Williamsburgs urban story. What was the year . 1988 when we did it . 1988. Oh, you cant hear me. 1988. We had alex haley come and help us to open the slave quarter at Carters Grove and for the first time we were able to tell that rural story. It was a huge debate that you know about, martha, that had us interpret and build slave quarters right at the entrance to the to the estate. To the estate. They actually changed the direction so that when you came to Carters Grove before you saw the Carters Grove mansion you had to pass through the slave quarter in order to see it. What an interesting adventure that was. I will never forget Arthur Johnson at that time art was huge and art stood at the beginning of the orientation after the orientation was over, people would go into Orientation Center there where there was a gift shop and restrooms and there was a film that you were given and then you would come through the back of the center and that would lead you to across a bridge and into Carters Grove proper. They had a debate, archeologist and bill kelso had an argument about whether it was a tanning pit or whether it was slave housing that was at the beginning. Well, bill kelso won and they put slave housing right there at the end of the path and you had to pass through that before you went to Carters Grove. But there were people who were who would go across the bridge and look like they didnt see the slave quarter. There were three buildings there, but they would and all they would see is the mansion, you know, just on top and they would make a beeline toward the mansion. There you go. A beeline. Arthur was so big until he could stand and put his hand on one end of the gate and on the other end of the gate to stop people just as because as you came off the on the gate you could see the slave quarters and so art did that and he stood there because he knew there was a group of people who were going to be pulsing out of the film and coming across the bridge and they came across the bridge and art said, i know youre trying to get to the mansion but let me just ask you one question, anybody here related to the duponts, raise your hand. Nobody raised their hand. Anybody related to the rockefellers. Raise your hand. Nobody raised their hands. He pointed to the slave quarter and he said, welcome home. [ applause ] i should have gave him a raise after that. And then you had the other employees who i wont mention no names, hey, do you want to stop here . Where are you going . You dont want to stop here. Theres a long line up there. Come on in here. Listen, no, they crazy over there. [ inaudible ]. I was educated in virginia and i went to high school and i took virginia history, but until i came to williamsburg and got to experience the interpreters hold on for a minute. She has a mic. It must not be on. Put it up here. Okay. I have never had this problem before. Those of you who know me, i never had this problem. I want to echo the gentleman behind me and his congratulations to you. And my question to you is where will my greatgrandchild go to hear the story that you told today . Because it is a compelling story, it is ripe in this country right now as we experience the great divide. We have to know we have to know the pain and the struggle that it took for you to portray what was really happening in this place. It is American History, it is very, very important because those of us who were educated here, we did not get it. Im not young well, okay, id like to be young, but i went to high school and Junior High School here in the 60s. I graduated in 73 in hampton. I attended hampton university, i didnt know dr. Ellis, but i wanted to know where will we go to hear your stories that were told today . They are recording it right back there. So the one thing i will say is that Colonial Williamsburg has always done an extraordinary job with archiving. One of the things that we promised each other in our sort of pretalk was to be as emotionally honest about this as we could, even as we, you know, saved some names to protect the innocent and not so, but, you know, it is being digitized, it is an archive. I think it will be shared first with those employees who wanted to see it first and after that i dont know, but thats the one thing that i will say is that they have from photographic records to the videographies and things that were taken over the years, there is an incredible programatic archive here. So my only hope is that they get it digitized, uploaded so that people can get to it easily. Thats the key. And do you know at the beginning beth mentioned that there were two other programs that they were going to be having, one in june july and october. And one in october. So please come back for those programs. But also interpret ifl, i dont know if vally which wierie wille tonight, but i mention here because she is an example of the kinds of connections that historical interpreters, especially africanamerican interpreters, can make with audiences who want to talk about race and want to talk about issues that are very difficult, but are still but find the way and find the courage to do it here. And Valerie Valerie williams is somebody who can Valerie Holmes. Thats her. Thats her. Valerie gray holmes. At the end of our program she has more people outside waiting in lines to talk with her about not 18th century issues, but about current issues. I hope that there are more characters created in the africanamerican Program Staff here that allow audiences to connect, to make connections that are not just 18th century connections but that are human to human connections. I know richard did that, i know i did that, i know christy did that, so there are so many ways that if you just take the leap you can talk with interpreters who, number one, have been trained enough to understand and know the history, but number two, want to in many ways talk with people who are interested in hearing more than a monologue, more than a few minutes, but want to hear more about the experiences of the 18th century as well as contemporary experiences as well. So i suggest that as you run into those characters that you take advantage of knowing them and delving deeply into the rich history that they have all been studying for so long. Also id like to say that whatever it is that you can give that greatgrandchild, as a storyteller i tell a story and equate it to something. I think that this connects to this connects to that. Our young people need to hear what has already gone on so that they can make connections. You know, trayvon, you know, thats now. What about 60s, what about what happened in the 50s, what about the 40s and with the internet now all of these stories coming up and i question them, first of all, because everything that i read aint true. Everything on the internet aint true. No. No. Example i read about i dont know if youve seen this thing about putting rice in your hair. That some africans put rice in their hair when they braided it so they had something to eat while on middle passage. When i read that i went i said theyre more concerned about rice than getting off the boat. That theyre preparing for the middle class. And the person at the other end said you learn something every day. You just learned something new. I said, no, i didnt. It takes a Little Common sense. But, anyway, all im saying is there are little connections and its the history but when you say, okay, what did Valerie Holmes just tell me. Its seeing a program and saying what does this mean and where have i seen this before . That is why ive always said that africanamericans have long memories and we see things from 50 years ago that we know our ancestors saw and we call it out. We know racism when we see it. We know when people, oh, good morning. We know that stuff because weve done that. And weve had to do that. Weve had to say, oh, good morning to you, maam. So we know that. And we see it and pick it up real quick. And thats because that history has caught us what its like to hear the same thing and to see the same thing. So the stories we tell are still being told, a little bit different now. We want to stop and certainly acknowledge beth kelly. Yes. And steven seals who is not here that is in where is he . Hes in iceland. Iceland celebrating his wedding. He just got married. We just want to give honor to them for taking the time [ applause ] we will do one more. One last question. And understanding the importance of this. As you say, its not just important tonight, its important for so many reasons and so and so many spaces and places we dont have an opportunity to sit and talk seriously about these kinds of issues. Somebody is on one side and somebody is on the other and nobody is having a conversation like this or at least there is not enough conversations like this going on. So i hope Colonial Williamsburg can take the lead and continue these kinds of conversations. As you hear, there are those who would like to hear even more of these kinds of conversations as well. And i believe we have room yeah, we are just going to do one more right here. And we can stay back. And we will be able to stay back afterwards. And hang out. I also wanted to thank you for what youre doing here and sharing all your experiences. But also what i wanted to know is if its happening today is the same type of support that you say you had during that time, is that happening with the black interpreters today and do the white interpreters also know how its affecting, you know, everybody . Honestly i cant speak to that. I havent worked at Colonial Williamsburg since 1999. I have [ inaudible ]. Lets talk about it on july 5th. She said. Yeah, thats the focus on the contemporary program mix. They may not be as dynamic as we are, but [ applause ] with that said, thank you all very much for joining us tonight. Thank you very much. [ applause ] all week were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan 3. Lectures in history, american artifacts, reel america, the civil war, oral histories, the presidency and special event coverage about our nations history. Enjoy American History tv now and every weekend on cspan 3. Weeknights this month were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan 3. This week a look at our weekly lectures in history series which takes you into College Classrooms around the country. Tonight programs that examine legal history including the 1981 trial of jean harris accused of murdering scarsdale diet doctor herman tarnauer. They discuss her background, long relationship with the doctor and conviction for his murder. Watch American History tv tonight at 8 00 eastern and every saturday and sunday on cspan 3. Watch book tv for live coverage of the National Book festival. Saturday starting at 10 00 a. M. Eastern our coverage including author interviews with Justice Ruth Bader ginsberg on her book my own words. David troyer, his book is the heartbeat of wounded knee. Sharon robinson talks about her book child of the dream. Rick atkinson author of the british are coming. And Thomas Malone founding director of the mit center for collective intelligence discusses super minds. Live saturday at 10 00 a. M. Eastern on book tv on cspan 2. Labor day weekend on American History tv, saturday at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on lectures in history, a discussion about Abraham Lincoln and native americans. Sunday at 4 00 p. M. On reel america, the 1950 army film invasion of southern france. And monday, labor day, at 8 00 p. M. Eastern the commemoration of the 400th anniversary of virginias first General Assembly held at jamestown. Explore our nations past on American History tv every weekend on cspan 3. Next author diana rainy this interview was recorded at the organization of american historians annual meeting in philadelphia. 2019 marks the 400th anniversary of the first african sold into slavery into the United States. Where did they come from . Different parts of west africa, they were taken on a ship and captured by the dutch and captured again off portuguese ships. When you look at the journey, there were two different points they were taken on different ships. How do we know about them . We know about them from