Chapter Four Sotterley - “Equals at Last” Copyright, 2015, by Samuel C.P
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Chapter Four Sotterley - “Equals at Last” Copyright, 2015, by Samuel C.P. Baldwin, Jr. Contents Clicking on each title will take you directly to the section. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 5 How and Why Agnes Researched the Kane Family .................................................................................. 5 Hilry Cane .................................................................................................................................................. 6 Sotterley’s Slave Cabin ............................................................................................................................ 15 Slave Graveyards ..................................................................................................................................... 27 Oral Histories Collected by the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions and the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Slackwater Project ................................................................................................. 38 Emancipation .......................................................................................................................................... 47 Life as a Sharecropper ............................................................................................................................. 57 Segregation in Southern Maryland ......................................................................................................... 65 Desegregation in Southern Marylan...................................................................................................... 75 Family Day ............................................................................................................................................... 89 John Hanson Briscoe and Agnes Kane Callum ........................................................................................ 94 Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions .......................................................................... 108 Photo Album ......................................................................................................................................... 110 Pictures 1. Agnes Kane Callum. Photo courtesy of Historic Sotterley ....................................................................... 4 2. A scene from the filming of “Prince of Slaves,” a historical movie filmed on Sotterley’s grounds. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ....................................................................................................................... 7 3. The slave cabin at Sotterley, redecorated to period furnishings. Used for filming “Prince of Slaves.” Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ....................................................................................................................... 9 4. Photo of vegetables and produce to be used as set pieces during the “Prince of Slaves” filming. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ..................................................................................................................... 13 5. Sotterley’s slave cabin. The only remaining slave quarters at Sotterley, the slave cabin is also one of the few original structures left intact in the state of Maryland. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ................ 15 6. Sotterley’s slave cabin, with window pictured. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ..................................... 16 7. The main door of the slave cabin, with ceiling beams visible. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley .............. 17 8. Architectural profile and floor plan of Sotterley’s slave cabin. ............................................................. 18 1 9. Sotterley’s slave cabin, with a view showcasing the structure’s unusual chimney. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ...................................................................................................................................................... 19 10. The slave cabin’s stairs, leading to its attic. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ......................................... 20 11. The fireplace in Sotterley’s slave cabin. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley .............................................. 21 12. The slave cabin during filming of “Prince of Slaves.” Courtesy of Historic Sotterley .......................... 22 13. View of Sotterley’s mansion from the slave cabin. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ............................. 23 14. View of Sotterley’s slave cabin from the mansion. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ............................. 23 15. The slave cabin’s east side, during filming of “Prince of Slaves.” Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ........ 26 16. A painting of what a slave burial may have looked like, by artist Charles Lilly. Courtesy of the National Park Service ................................................................................................................................................. 27 17. Three possible grave sites at Sotterley Plantation. Satellite Image from Google Earth ...................... 28 18. An aerial view of Sotterley, showing the slave cabin and its proximity to the possible location of the slave graveyard. Satellite Image from Google Earth ................................................................................... 30 19. The suspected slave graveyard site at Sotterley. Pictured are the stumps of the two cedar trees that are believed to mark the entrance to the graveyard. Both trees were the same age and spaced exactly 10 feet from each other. Courtesy of Joe Goldsmith ................................................................................. 32 20. Gate hardware uncovered by Joe Goldsmith at the location of the suspected slave graveyard. Photo Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ..................................................................................................................... 33 21. Sam Kane with his wife, Laura B. Kane, in front of their home in California, MD. A gift to John Hanson Briscoe from Gwen Bankins. ...................................................................................................................... 48 22. Alfred Edwards, a former slave who remained at Sotterley into the early 1900s. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ...................................................................................................................................................... 49 23. Emancipation rolls showing the names of the enslaved at Sotterley freed when Maryland adopted its new state constitution in 1864. ............................................................................................................. 50 24. James Victor Scriber at Sotterely. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ........................................................ 55 25. Phillip H. Scriber at Sotterley. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley .............................................................. 60 26. An old aerial photograph of Sotterley Plantation, showing when much of the grounds were still put into agriculture. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley .......................................................................................... 64 27. The Phillis Wheatley school, located on Hollywood Road. Courtesy of the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions ...................................................................................................................... 67 28. Students at a black elementary school in St. Mary’s County, circa 1900. Courtesy of the St. Mary’s County Historical Society ............................................................................................................................ 68 29. The original Benjamin Banneker school, pictured in 1938. Courtesy of the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions. ..................................................................................................................... 71 30. The Cardinal Gibbons Institute in the 1920s. Courtesy of the Unified Committee for Afro-American Contributions .............................................................................................................................................. 73 31. Donald Barber’s class in elementary school, which also included Jan and Lisa Briscoe, daughters of John Hanson Briscoe. Courtesy of Janice Briscoe ....................................................................................... 80 32. The Cardinal Gibbons senior class of 1960. Courtesy of the St. Mary’s County Historical Society ..... 82 33. The 1960 yearbook of the Cardinal Gibbons High School in Ridge. Courtesy of the St. Mary’s County Historical Society ......................................................................................................................................... 83 34. One of Agnes Kane Callum’s Family Day groups. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ................................ 91 2 35. Kane descendants at Sotterley’s slave cabin on one of Agnes Kane Callum’s Family Day trips. Courtesy of Historic Sotterley ..................................................................................................................... 93 36. John Hanson Briscoe and Agnes Kane Callum, with members of the Kane family. Pictured are (left to right): Top row: Betty Bankins, Hilary Kane, Reggie Gunn, Cliffton Bankins, unknown, Deborah Nored, and unknown. Middle row: Unknown, Calvin Kane, unknown, Marita Bankins, Sahni Bankins,