Here in Virginia, there are some pretty strong views on history.
It isn’t merely in the past, it is occurring in the present as
well. This can easily perpetuate the stereotype that Southerners
are still fighting the Civil War, or as it is known to some of
my relatives, the War of Northern Aggression. However, this view
of history in the present tense can be put to good use to
dismantle assumptions, rethink the past, and keep cultural
institutions relevant. The most recent episode of The
Abolitionists on PBS focused heavily on Frederick Douglass.
Reading his 1845 memoir, Narrative of the Life of Frederick
Douglass, an American Slave, in school years ago was my first
encounter with the realities of slavery, as I imagine it may be
for many people. Somehow, seeing the scene in which William
Lloyd Garrison, a prominent abolitionist, and Frederick Douglass
first meet brought to mind again how wonderful it is to see
these events and documents geographically located on the
Abolitionist Map of America. Zoom in on Nant