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Let the legacy live!
By: ShebaBabe ShebaBabe
Milwaukee Courier
Originally posted 6/11/2004
As children of an enlightened generation of African Americans, we find relevance in honoring the contributions of our pioneering ancestors. Without question, we should visit as many settlements, historical sites, and Black colleges as possible. For the same reasons we should visit Africa to learn of our African ancestry--this knowledge and experience completes us, makes us whole. It is the basis of our social and cultural existence.
The ShebaBeySPEAKS Arts & Entertainment Club is invited to take part in honoring the first African American settlement in Wisconsin called Pleasant Ridge. Based in Lancaster, Wisconsin about three hours outside of Milwaukee, this settlement was founded by the Shepard family in 1849, a few years before the Emancipation Proclamation.
The cemetery and museum exhibit will be dedicated for the first time in history on June 26th at Nelson Dewey Day. Nelson Dewey was the first governor of Wisconsin and was elected in 1848. This event and curiosity surrounding the settlement, led me to search for more information on African American pioneers and settlements. It was to no surprise that there is a wealth of information, research and even a movement of African Americans who find our history--a treasure to behold.
A website: SoulofAmerica.com has books, historical tours, and information on ‘Black Towns’; Master Storyteller, Tejumola Ologboni, has compiled a historical video for the Wisconsin Black Historical Society Museum containing information on the Pleasant Ridge settlement and is available at all Milwaukee Public Libraries; Visit the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce’s website at lancasterwisconsin.com or call (866) 876-8665 for more information on Nelson Dewey Day; The 2000 Heritage Wisconsin Tour Guide, published by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, features photographs and historical summaries on Pleasant Ridge, The Tallman House in Janesville, The Miller House in Madison and several other African American settlements, historical sites, and underground railroad stops in Wisconsin. The guide is no longer in print, but some of this information is included in the current edition. To get your copy, call: (800) 432-8747 or visit: travelwisconsin.com.
Take the time to discover the significant contributions African Americans have made towards their own progress. We, as a collective people, although we were enslaved, forged our future into a beaming light of promise, not into a dead fossil left to decay.
Explore the rich heritage created by our African American ancestors in Wisconsin and encourage their pioneering spirit to continue. Let the legacy live!
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