Delaware Public Archives Dedicates Equal Suffrage Study Club Historical Marker

 

dedication of the equal suffrage study club marker

 

The Delaware Public Archives & Delaware Heritage Commission are proud to present the installation and unveiling of the “Equal Suffrage Study Club” Historical Marker — the final marker in the series of four Delaware Historical Markers celebrating the centennial of the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States providing for women’s suffrage.

This Marker salutes the Equal Suffrage Study Club that was founded in 1914 by — and for — African American women and encouraged the public to campaign for women’s voting rights and the inclusion of African American women.

This NEW marker is installed along the Michael N. Castle Trail in close proximity to the location of the original colored schoolhouse that was the location of the 1920 meeting enshrined on this Delaware Historical Marker.

These Delaware Historical Markers have been installed with the support of the Delaware Women’s Suffrage Commission, in cooperation with the Delaware Heritage Commission and the Delaware Public Archives. Regretfully, the installation and presentation of these Historical Markers have been delayed due to the pandemic.

 

Learn more about the Delaware Centennial – www.archives.delaware.gov/women-vote-100

 


Historical Affairs Programs In September 2021

(DOVER, Del. — Sept. 1, 2021) — The Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs will be sponsoring a wide variety of programs during the month of September 2021 including, among others, a wetland walk and campfire on Sept. 18, and a program on Colonial Delaware crime and punishment on Sept. 23. Several of these programs will be conducted in front of a live audience, while others will be streamed live on the internet with registration required. See the full schedule below for details. All programs are free and open to the public.

Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs programs, September 2021

Thursday, Sept. 9
“The I’s Have It: Industry, Innovation, and Invention.” Delaware’s 23rd Annual Chautauqua featuring a day-long series of virtual activities from Lewes culminating with Keith Henley of the American Historical Theatre portraying George Washington Carver. Activities streamed live via Zoom and Facebook. Zoom registration required by going to the following: https://history.delaware.gov/23rd-annual-chautauqua/. 12–9 p.m. 302-645-1148 or mailto:zmuseum@delaware.gov.

Thursday, Sept. 9
Smooth Sound Big Band. Concert featuring music from the big band era through classic rock and jazz. Part of Delaware’s 23rd Annual Chautauqua. Guests must bring their own chairs. Program also streamed live on Facebook. Stango Park, 114 Third St., Lewes. 6 p.m. 302-645-1148 or mailto:zmuseum@delaware.gov.

Friday, Sept. 10
“The I’s Have It: Industry, Innovation, and Invention.” Delaware’s 23rd Annual Chautauqua featuring a day-long series of virtual activities from Lewes culminating with Bob Gleason of the American Historical Theatre portraying Thomas Edison. Activities streamed live via Zoom and Facebook. Zoom registration required by going to the following: https://history.delaware.gov/23rd-annual-chautauqua/. 12–9 p.m. 302-645-1148 or mailto:zmuseum@delaware.gov.

Friday, Sept. 10
“Old-Time Radio Show.” Performed by the Possum Point Players Radio Theatre. Part of Delaware’s 23rd Annual Chautauqua. Guests must bring their own chairs. Program also streamed live on Facebook. Stango Park, 114 Third St., Lewes. 6 p.m. 302-645-1148 or mailto:zmuseum@delaware.gov.

Saturday, Sept. 11
“The I’s Have It: Industry, Innovation, and Invention.” Delaware’s 23rd Annual Chautauqua featuring a day-long series of activities culminating with Daisy Sunshine of the American Historical Theatre portraying Madame C.J. Walker. In-person attendance welcome but visitors must bring their own chairs. Programs also streamed live on Facebook. New Castle Court House Museum, 211 Delaware St., New Castle. 12–6 p.m. 302-323-4453 or mailto:NCCHmuseum@delaware.gov.

Sunday, Sept. 12
“The I’s Have It: Industry, Innovation, and Invention.” Delaware’s 23rd Annual Chautauqua featuring a day-long series of activities culminating with Bob Gleason of the American Historical Theatre portraying Alexander Graham Bell. In-person attendance welcome but visitors must bring their own chairs. Programs also streamed live on Facebook. New Castle Court House Museum, 211 Delaware St., New Castle. 12–6 p.m. 302-323-4453 or mailto:NCCHmuseum@delaware.gov.

Tuesdays, Sept. 21 and 28; Fridays, Sept. 17 and 24; Saturday, Sept. 25
Guided visitation to the African burial ground at the John Dickinson Plantation. Guided visitation leads participants to the African burial ground which is believed to be the final resting place for enslaved and free Black men, women and children who died on the plantation. Guests will engage with guides about the historical context and archaeological research of the site. John Dickinson Plantation, 340 Kitts Hummock Road, Dover. Programs at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Admission free but reservations recommended by calling 302-739-3277.

Saturday, Sept. 18
Wetland walk and campfire. Staff-led walk on the St. Jones Reserve’s wetlands boardwalk followed by a sachet-making program and campfire at the John Dickinson Plantation. St. Jones Reserve, 818 Kitts Hummock Road, and John Dickinson Plantation, 340 Kitts Hummock Road Dover. 6–8:30 p.m. Reservations required by calling the St. Jones Reserve at 302-735-3412.

Thursday, Sept. 23
“Colonial Delaware Crime and Punishment.” Virtual program from The Old State House in which historic-site interpreter Francisco Rodriguez discusses Colonial Delaware criminal laws looking at how courts of the period dealt with crime and punishment, the role played by the General Assembly in the enactment of those laws, and the roots of Colonial criminal justice in the English legal system. Program streamed live via Zoom. Registration required and only available by going to the following: https://tinyurl.com/t63ua3bb. 1 p.m. For additional information, call 302-744-5054 or mailto:OSHmuseum@delaware.gov.

Administered by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, the five museums of the State of Delaware—the John Dickinson Plantation, the Johnson Victrola Museum, the New Castle Court House Museum, The Old State House and the Zwaanendael Museum—tell the story of the First State’s contributions to the history and culture of the United States. Through tours, exhibits, and special programs, the museums shine a spotlight on Delaware’s unique history and the diverse people who came to live there. The museums are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. The New Castle Court House Museum and the John Dickinson Plantation are partner sites of the First State National Historical Park. The Old State House is located on the Dover Green, another partner site of the park. Go to the following for a long-term calendar of division-sponsored events.

Picture of the Logo of the American Alliance of Museums

The Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs is an agency of the State of Delaware. The division enhances Delaware’s quality of life by preserving the state’s unique historical heritage, fostering community stability and economic vitality and providing educational programs and assistance to the general public on Delaware history. The division’s diverse array of services includes operation of five museums, administration of the State Historic Preservation Office, conservation of the state’s archaeological and historic-objects collections, operation of a conference center and management of historic properties across the state. Primary funding for division programs and services is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, a federal agency. However, the contents and opinions expressed in the division’s programs and services do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Department of the Interior.

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Contact:
Jim Yurasek
Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs
Phone: 302-608-5326
E-mail: Jim.Yurasek@delaware.gov
Web: http://history.delaware.gov


Whipping Post to be Removed from Public Display

GEORGETOWN, Del. – Tomorrow, July 1, the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs will remove a whipping post from public display on the grounds of the Old Sussex County Courthouse near the Circle in Georgetown.

The decision to remove the whipping post was made in response to calls from the community and in recognition of the violence and racial discrimination that its display signified to many Delawareans.

“Finally, Delaware is removing its last ‘Red Hannah,’ the whipping post, from the public’s view,” said Dr. Reba Hollingsworth, vice-chair of the Delaware Heritage Commission. “Such relics of the past should be placed in museums to be preserved and protected for those who want to remember the cruel, inhuman, barbarous acts perpetrated on our citizens.”

The post will be moved to a Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs (HCA) storage facility with other historical objects and artifacts, including a whipping post that once stood near The Green in Dover.

“It is appropriate for an item like this to be preserved in the state’s collections, so that future generations may view it and attempt to understand the full context of its historical significance,” said HCA Director Tim Slavin. “It’s quite another thing to allow a whipping post to remain in place along a busy public street – a cold, deadpan display that does not adequately account for the traumatic legacy it represents, and that still reverberates among communities of color in our state.”

HCA intends to work with historians, educators and leaders of the African American community in Delaware to explore plans for future display of this artifact in a museum setting, where it can be properly contextualized and interpreted.

This whipping post was located on the grounds of the Sussex Correctional Institution south of Georgetown. The facility was established in 1931, but the exact date this particular post was installed is not known. In 1992, the warden donated the post to HCA. The post was installed for public display at the state-owned Old Sussex County Courthouse site in September of 1993.

The history of corporal punishment in Delaware goes back to the earliest days of colonial settlement and included the use of the whipping post and the pillory in all three counties into the 20th century. These punishments were imposed for a variety of crimes throughout history and were disproportionately applied to persons of color. Those sentenced to the whipping post could be lashed up to 40 times for a single offense.

Dr. Hollingsworth, a lifelong Delaware educator, historian and civil rights advocate, witnessed a whipping in her childhood that still lives in her memory:

When I was a child in the late 1930s, I saw a man being whipped at the Kent County jail at the corner of New and Water Streets in Dover. On a Saturday morning, my dad, Solomon Ross, had driven to Dover from Milford to conduct some business. When he saw the crowd gathered at the front of the jail, he parked his car and he, my sister Vivienne and I joined the crowd around the wire mesh fence, which surrounded the jail yard.

There, we saw a man, naked to his waist, with his wrists shackled to an eight-foot post, being whipped by a man with a cat-o-nine-tails that had a short handle with nine rawhide thongs, which appeared to be about 18 inches long.

Even though the whipping occurred more than 80 years ago, I still remember the eerie silence that was pierced by the lashes of the whip. After each lash, the warden would loudly count each lash.

I don’t remember how many lashes the man received that day, but the incident is a vivid memory every time I pass the jail on New Street, even though Red Hannah has been removed. When I drive around the Circle in Georgetown, my childhood emotions fill my heart.

The last use of the whipping post in Delaware took place in 1952. Delaware was the last state to abolish the whipping post, removing the penalty from state law in 1972 through an act of the General Assembly signed by Gov. Russell Peterson.


Program on historic African American beaches and resorts at Lewes’ Zwaanendael Museum on Jan. 18, 2020

(DOVER, Del.—Jan. 8, 2020)—On Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020 at 2 p.m., the Zwaanendael Museum, located at 102 Kings Highway in Lewes, Del., will host “Black Footprints on White Sands: Historic African American Beaches and Resorts,” a presentation by Chase Jackson, program and grants manager at New Jersey’s Bayshore Center at Bivalve. The program will take place on the Zwaanendael Museum’s 2nd floor (entry via staircase; no elevator) and is free and open to the public. However, due to space restrictions, reservations are required by calling the museum at 302-645-1148 no later than Jan. 17, 2020.
 
 
Held in celebration of the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, Jackson’s presentation will explore beaches and resorts that African Americans could visit without fear of discrimination or violence during the segregation era. One such destination in Delaware was the Rosedale Beach Hotel and Resort in Millsboro which was run by, and for, people of color. During its heyday, the resort presented some of the greatest musicians of the 20th century including Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, among many others.
 
 
 
Poster advertising Lionel Hampton performance at Rosedale Beach
 
Chase Jackson holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Elizabeth City State University in North Carolina which she parlayed into a 30-plus-year career in non-profit administration. She is also an accomplished storyteller, producer, director, actor and blues vocalist. In addition to managing its office, she handles all of the Bayshore Center’s publicity, promotion and special event/program coordination.
 
 
The Zwaanendael Museum is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., from Nov. 1 to March 31; and Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday, 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., from April 1 to Oct. 31. Admission is free and open to the public. For additional information, call 302-645-1148.

The museum was built in 1931 to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the state’s first European colony, Swanendael, established by the Dutch along Hoorn Kill (present-day Lewes-Rehoboth Canal) in 1631. Designed by E. William Martin (architect of Legislative Hall and the Hall of Records in Dover), it is modeled after the town hall in Hoorn, the Netherlands, and features a stepped facade gable with carved stonework and decorated shutters.

Museum exhibits and presentations provide a showcase for Lewes-area maritime, military and social history. Current exhibits include “Delaware Railroads: Elegant Travel and Timely Transport” which explores the history of rail travel and transport in the First State; and “A Seaborne Citizenry: The DeBraak and Its Atlantic World” which tells the story of His Majesty’s Sloop of War DeBraak, a British warship that sank off the Delaware coast on May 25, 1798.

The Zwaanendael Museum is administered by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, an agency of the State of Delaware. The division enhances Delaware’s quality of life by preserving the state’s unique historical heritage, fostering community stability and economic vitality and providing educational programs and assistance to the general public on Delaware history. The division’s diverse array of services includes operation of five museums which are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, administration of the State Historic Preservation Office, conservation of the state’s archaeological and historic-objects collections, operation of a conference center and management of historic properties across the state. Primary funding for division programs and services is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, a federal agency. However, the contents and opinions expressed in the division’s programs and services do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Department of the Interior.

Picture of the Logo of the American Alliance of Museums logo

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Contact:
Jim Yurasek
Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs
Phone: 302-739-7787
E-mail: Jim.Yurasek@delaware.gov
Web: http://history.delaware.gov


Site of Purported African-American Cemetery Discovered

DOVER – Archaeologists working at a property near Frankford, Sussex County, have discovered the site of a cemetery known to the local community to contain the remains of African Americans who lived in the area.

Under the observation of an archaeologist from the Delaware State Historic Preservation Office, archaeologists employed by a private landowner delineated 11 graves at the site, known as the Orr Property or Hall Plantation.

A headstone was also found at the site bearing the name C.S. Hall and the lines “Co. K, 32nd U.S.C.T.” (an abbreviation for U.S. Colored Troops, the designation for units comprised of African American soldiers during the Civil War.)

The headstone has not been correlated to a specific grave, and no further information is yet known about the identities of the burials at the site. The presence of the remains of enslaved persons has not yet been confirmed through archaeology or review of the historical record.

“This cemetery is a significant discovery for the community and for all Delawareans who value and appreciate our state’s rich history,” said Tim Slavin, director of the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, which oversees the State Historic Preservation Office. “As work continues at the site, we hope to learn more about those who are interred there, so that they may be properly memorialized and their personal stories retold.”

The State Historic Preservation Office will offer guidance, advice and supervision as the landowner continues archaeological work at the site. Though the site is located on private property, the state will take an active role in ensuring that the ongoing archaeological investigation is thorough, professional and carried out in an ethical and responsible manner.

The landowner was an active participant in the gathering of local information about the site, and has indicated that the cemetery will be preserved. The state will work closely with the landowner to determine a plan for preservation.

“I would also like to thank the neighbors nearby for their role in calling attention to the presence of a cemetery here,” Slavin said. “Their recollections and local knowledge about the site and its location were key to discovering these burials. They spoke up, and thanks to them we can add a new page to Delaware history.”