Giving Voice to the life of Ancestor Educator Mary Smith Peake

Giving voice to the Ancestors and excavating the untold stories of the freedom fighters and pioneers who paved the way has been the focus of my work since my time at the New York African Burial Ground Project nearly 30 years ago. In 2015, I began performing Historical Reenactments of Ancestor Mary Smith Peake and have continued to give voice to her life and story. She was a free woman and risked her life and safety to educate free and enslaved Africans. She taught the children of the enslaved the newly freed and is known to have recited the first public reading of the Emancipation Proclamation under the Emancipation Oak tree on Hampton University. I've performed at Heritage Day the past two years and for the National Park Services Freedom Seekers Summer Youth Experience at Fort Monroe last July.

Honored to do this sacred work!!! Honored to tell her story. Honored to honor these beloved Ancestors!!!! Left photo Mary Smith Peake Right photo; Reenactor Chadra Pittman Walke

Image on left from Under the Freedom Tree by Susan VanHecke Image on right Pittman Walke as Mary Smith Peake at Fort Monore- Freedom Seekers Summer Youth Experience #TheSANKOFAProjects #MarySmithPeake #FortMonroeNationalMonument