THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 2, 1997 TAG: 9701310055
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHEN HARRIMAN, TRAVER EDITOR
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: 283 lines
HE LARGE BLACK MAN in knee britches, waistcoat, neck scarf, full cape and tri-cornered hat eyed me carefully, silently, for what seemed an inordinately long time.
This must be Bristol, I thought, Thomas Everhard's main man. Used to work for Gov. Francis Fauquier. You can see the bearing. Yes, this must be Bristol.
He is, I surmise, determining with his practiced eye whether I am a gentleman, or at least of the ``upper-middling sort'' - whether, in other words, I am to be invited to enter the Brush-Everard House through the front door he is holding partially open, or whether I will be instructed to go around to the rear entrance.
It is probably a close call. I must appear slightly bedraggled and certainly quite wet from head to toe, standing here at the edge of the Palace Green, under a leaking, leaden sky that has caused the uneven brick sidewalks and graveled pathways to puddle up something awful.
I will tell him, if I must, that I am a cousin of George Wythe's wife from across the green. Ninth cousin, once or twice removed, to be sure, but kin is kin in Virginia. That should count. Get me out of this rain.
``Come in,'' he says at last, inviting me into the modest one-and-a-half-story frame house that is one of two closest neighbors of the Governor's Palace . . . and into the 18th century. ``Are you alone?''
Because I am alone - there are no other visitors this hour for the interpretative tour called ``Neither Seen Nor Heard: Life Under the Master's Roof'' - we can be ourselves.
That is, I can be a journalist looking for ways to experience Black History Month in Virginia, and ``Bristol'' can be Bryan Ashlock, a native of Williamsburg and a senior at Norfolk State. And in our privacy, he does not have to remain ``locked'' in the character of an 18th century manservant.
The use of character actors is a popular method of interpreting history at places like this. The character knows all about his or her life and times up to the ``present'' - say, 1774 - but nothing of things that happened since. And I always hate to try to explain the flow and distribution of ink from a ball-point pen - they always seem to have a curiosity - to a 1774 person who has never experienced the flow and distribution system of indoor plumbing.
Ashlock is with Colonial Williamsburg's Department of African-American Interpretation and Presentations, established in 1988. His parents worked at Colonial Williamsburg, and his grandparents before them. This is his turf, his heritage; history is in his blood. He's been doing this sort of work about seven years.
``After I graduate I want to go to film school,'' he says. ``I want to make films about this sort of thing so us history buffs can really get into the development of these characters.''
There's probably no better training ground than here. During the 18th century, at the height of the town's pre-eminence in Colonial America, half of Williamsburg's population was black.
The lives of the slaves and the free black persons in this Virginia Colonial capital and at nearby Carter's Grove plantation are presented in a series of comprehensive re-enactments and programs throughout the year.
They examine the struggles, joys and pains of African-American field hands, maids, cooks, drivers and footmen as well as skilled carpenters, spinners, blacksmiths, coopers and wheelwrights to the point that an attentive visitor can get some sense of what it was really like back then.
``Neither Seen Nor Heard'' at the Brush-Everard House is just one of them (for a complete list of year-long programs and special events to mark Black History Month, see page Exx).
This program explores the 18th century urban and domestic slave's experience and the relationships formed with others in the community. It reflects the interdependence of the master's immediate family and the slaves who lived and worked on the property. It is conducted daily through March 1, on the hour from noon to 4 p.m.
And February is an especially good month to visit Colonial Williamsburg. It's not crowded.
The Brush-Everard House was built in 1718, less than two decades after Williamsburg became Virginia's capital, by John Brush, a gunsmith, armorer and first keeper of the Magazine on Market Square. After he died in 1727, the house had several owners.
Thomas Everard acquired the property about 1755 and lived here about 25 years. During his tenure the house was enlarged and embellished to reflect the standing of its owner and the changing tastes by which a gentleman was judged.
Ashlock says Everard was never really a member of the gentry although he generally was regarded as such. He was, to put a particularly fine point on it, only of the ``upper-middling sort'' because he was not born into the gentry. His daughters Fanny and Patsy, however, both married into the gentry.
Everard is something of a rags-to-riches story. He was the son of a yeoman skinner and was sent to Christ Hospital, an ancient London school (the ``Bluecoats School,'' originally an orphanage and still in operation today) for legal training. He came to Virginia as a legal clerk, and he became a man of comfortable circumstances, though not wealthy, and a respected local civic leader.
He was twice mayor of Williamsburg - in 1766 and 1771 - and was on the vestry of Bruton Parish Church. He served as deputy clerk of the General Court from the 1740s until the Revolution, and he was clerk of the York County Court from 1745 until his death in 1781.
And he was close enough to Gov. Fauquier - ``the ablest man who ever filled the chair of government here,'' said Thomas Jefferson - to be selected as the governor's estate manager when he died in office in 1768.
That is how Bristol came to work for Everard.
Fauquier specified that his servants could choose their own new master upon his death. Bristol, who had served the governor in the grand brick palace, choose Everard and the unpretentious clapboard house. It was something of a comedown, but it was just across the street.
``I won't say, I can't say, that Everard was good to his slaves,'' said Ashlock. ``But from all indications he was better than most masters.''
Ashlock said that the addition of Bristol made 19 slaves in the Everard household, 11 adults and 8 children. He also said that Bristol's arrival upset the pecking order among the servants.
After the death of Mrs. Everard, it had been Kate who had been No. 1. Bristol's presents made her No. 2. Kate ran the house and was ``like a second mother to the girls.'' Her duties also meant that some of the other slave women had to take over the responsibilities of Kate's three sons and a daughter, Ashlock said, pointing out the complexities of the extended black-white ``family.''
``It takes a village to raise a child,'' he said. ``I believe Hillary Clinton said that, too.''
Ashlock points out where most of the servants lived - nearly always close to the person they principally served, or close to their place or work.
Kate lived in a small, second-floor room in the back of the main house, adjacent to Patsy's room - comfortable but significantly more Spartan that that of the mistress - and connected to it by a doorway.
``Many masters had their manservant sleep in their room, often at the foot of their bed,'' said Ashlock. ``I think Bristol probably lived upstairs, over the cook's room in the kitchen'' - a brick outbuilding that is one of the oldest restored buildings in Williamsburg.
``Other slaves lived over the laundry, if that was their primary job, or over the carriage house, if they were in charge of the horses and carriages.''
The tour really is a glimpse of ``Life Under the Master's Roof'' - a step back in time, an educational experience, a story told without spin, a black and white snapshot of life as it was in 1774.
It's also a reminder that when you visit the restored homes and buildings of Colonial Williamsburg, if you don't learn about the slaves and the free blacks - where they lived, what they did - then you're missing out on 50 percent of what the place is all about . . . and you're getting only half your money's worth. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Martin Smith-Rodden
Bryan Ashlock poses as the 18th century slave Bristol outside the
Brush-Everard House in Colonial Williamsburg, where the real-life
slave worked.
Graphic
TRAVELER'S ADVISORY
Getting there: From South Hampton Roads, take Interstate 64 west
to Exit 238, then follow the green ``Colonial Williamsburg'' signs
to the visitor center, which is open daily, 9-5, for orientation,
information and tickets.
Admissions: Although it is possible to simply stroll Colonial
Williamsburg without buying a ticket, virtually every historic
building or exhibit requires one. General admission tickets come in
three types and prices:
Patriot's Pass. Good for one year, admits holder to all
buildings, exhibits and museums and some special-interest tours. $33
adult, $19 child (6-12).
Basic Plus. Good for three consecutive days, admits holder to
Orientation Walk and to all exhibits in Historic Area, Abby Aldrich
Rockefeller Folk Art Center and the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts
Gallery. $29 adult, $17 child.
Basic admission. Good for two consecutive days and includes
Orientation Walk and all exhibits in the Historic Area except
museums. $25 adult, $15 child.
Getting around: Buses to the Historic Area depart from the lower
level of the Visitor Center and run from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Ticket
holders may board buses at any stop. In the Historic Area, you walk,
just as the Colonials did.
Info: For information and reservations, contact the Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation, Box 1776, Williamsburg, Va. 23187; phone
(757) 229-1000.
Graphic
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
In 1976, February was designated as Black History Month, a time
to remember and honor the contributions of African Americans to this
country's history and culture. But its true origins go back another
half-century . . . and to a Virginian.
Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950), a native of Buckingham County in
central Virginia, is regarded as the father of African American
history. In 1926, the noted educator and historian established what
was then called Negro History Week.
As a youth Woodson mined coal in West Virginia. He earned degrees
at Berea College (B.L., 1903), the University of Chicago (B.A. and
M.A., 1908) and Harvard (Ph.D., 1912). He was one of the first
blacks awarded a doctorate by Harvard.
In 1915 he organized the Association for the Study of Negro Life
and History and in 1916 established the ``Journal of Negro
History.''
Graphic
BLACK HISTORY PROGRAMS AT COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG
Colonial Williamsburg's Department of African-American
Interpretation and Presentations programs for February, Black
History Month:
Daily program:
``Neither Seen Nor Heard: Life Under the Master's Roof'' at the
Brush-Everard House, Palace Green. Explores the 18th century urban
and domestic slave's experience and the relationships formed with
others in the community. It reflects the interdependence of the
master's immediate family and the slaves who lived and worked on the
property. Daily through March 1, on the hour, from noon to 4 p.m.
Lectures:
``Black Family Revisited.'' 2 p.m. Saturday, Palace East Advance
Building.
``All the President's Men: Founding Fathers in Slavery.'' 1:30
p.m. Feb. 15, Public Records Office.
``Free Blacks of Williamsburg.'' 10 a.m. Feb. 22, Palace East
Advance Building.
Films (all 4 p.m. at Hennage Auditorium in the DeWitt Wallace
Decorative Arts Gallery):
Feb. 12 - ``Remembrances of Early Williamsburg.'' Relive what
life was like for several African-American residents before the
restoration as you view early images of the town.
Feb. 14 - ``Your Worries Ain't Like Mine.'' Colonial Williamsburg
examines itself to record the experiences of several employees, from
interpreters to researchers to vice presidents, who have endured
hardships due to their commitment to the interpretation of the black
presence.
Feb. 21 - ``The Freedom Years.'' Williamsburg remembers the
decades of change as resident recall the civil rights struggle of
the 1950s and '60s and its impact on the community.
Feb. 22 - ``The World War II Years.'' Eight citizens of
Williamsburg share their memories of how World War II affected their
lives, the lives of their families and life in their communities.
Feb. 28 - ``An Oral History of the Community: The Depression
Years.'' A multi-image presentation featuring members of
Williamsburg's diverse communities as they share remembrances of
survival during this most difficult time.
Other programs
Scheduled throughout the year (reservations and/or tickets may be
required):
``The Other Half: A History Walk.'' An hourlong tour that gives
visitors an in-depth look at the African and African-Virginian
experience in the 18th century and how the Revolution changed the
face of slavery up to the Civil War. Daily.
``Carter's Grove Slave Quarter.'' The site reveals much about the
lives of the Africans and African-Virginians whose labor supported
the 18th century plantation east of Williamsburg. Tuesday-Sunday,
March-December.
``Order in the Court.'' Observe or participate in the
re-enactment of 18th century court cases that involved free and
enslaved blacks at the Courthouse of 1770. Daily.
Evening programs:
``Affairs of the Heart.'' This program looks at a gentry marriage
and its effects on the household of the groom and his intended bride
- complicated by the man's previous relations with a slave by whom
he had had a child. Contains mature subject matter. Performed 7 and
8:30 p.m. Tuesdays, April 1-Aug. 26 and Oct. 7-Nov. 25, George Wythe
House.
``Remember Me.'' Spend an evening with old Paris as he remembers
Africa and his enslavement and watch his methods for cultural and
spiritual survival. Performed 7 p.m. Thursdays, April 10-May 29,
June 26-Aug. 28, and Oct. 2-Nov. 27, Hennage Auditorium.
``Trying to Git Some Mother Wit.'' Three elderly African-American
women share advice on surviving slavery, outsmarting the master,
love and romance and cures for whatever ails you. Performed 7:30
p.m. Saturdays, June 27-Aug. 29, Hennage Auditorium.
``Jumpin' the Broom.'' Explores 18th century slave marriages in
Colonial Virginia. A question-and-answer session follows. 7 and 8:30
p.m. Saturdays, May 24-Aug. 30 and Oct. 4 and 11. Carter's Grove
Slave Quarter.
``An Evening at Shields Tavern.'' Music, dance and storytelling.
Audience participation is encouraged. 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays, June
19-Aug. 28. Shields on Duke of Gloucester Street.
``Musical Traditions of African-Americans.'' The work, songs,
hymns, polyrhythms and dances demonstrated reflect the survival of
African culture in an Anglo-American society. 6:30 p.m. Fridays,
June 27-Aug. 29, Playbooth Theater, Palace Green.
``The Storyletter.'' A series of African and African-American
folktales and fables focuses on morals and techniques of survival. 7
p.m. Saturday, April 11 and 25, May 9 and 23. Site TBA.
``Miss Hattie Explains It All.'' Wit and whimsy, advice to young
and old. 7 p.m. Friday, April 4 and 18, May 2, 16 and 30, Hennage
Auditorium.
``Christmas at the Quarter.'' Every 15 minutes from 7 to 9 p.m.
Dec. 6, Carter's Grove Slave Quarter.
Info: For information and reservations, call the Colonial
Williamsburg Foundation, (757) 229-1000.
KEYWORDS: BLACK HISTORY MONTH COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG SLAVE