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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Benjamin Drummond Emancipation Day Celebration Explores
African American Life & Culture During the Civil War
Featuring Prominent Scholars, Journalists, Poets and Musicians
FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE BEGINNING APRIL 1st
Washington, DC, March 23, 2015—Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital will host the first
annual Benjamin Drummond Emancipation Day Celebration - The First Freed: Exploring
African American Life & Culture in Washington, DC during the Civil War from April 16-19,
2015. In commemorating the end of slavery in the nation’s capital, Hill Center will present four days of
celebratory and unique scholarly programs. These free public events will bring together a diverse
group of prominent scholars, artists, and public figures for programming that will engage
attendees in a deeper understanding of the African American experience during the Civil War.
In 1864, Abraham Lincoln commissioned a Civil War Naval Hospital near the Marine Barracks
on Capitol Hill. The Old Naval Hospital opened its doors in 1866 and Benjamin Drummond, an
African American seaman, was the hospital’s first patient. The series is named in his honor.
Nearly 150 years later, the Old Naval Hospital, a landmark of the Capitol Hill neighborhood
located at 921 Pennsylvania Ave SE, was transformed into Hill Center, a vibrant hub for cultural
enrichment, lifelong learning, and civic engagement.
Schedule of Events
Thursday, April 16
• Exhibit: The Emotional Toll of War, on loan from the National Museum of Civil War
Medicine
• African Americans & the Civil War: A conversation with Dr. Daryl M. Scott, historian
and President of the Association for the Study of African American History, moderated by
Yoni Appelbaum, historian and Senior Editor at The Atlantic.
Friday, April 17
• Reparations: A conversation with Johns Hopkins University professor Dr. N.D.B.
Connolly, moderated by NAACP Legal Defense Fund Litigation Director Christina
Swarns
• Emancipation and the Struggle Over Equality in the District of Columbia: A
conversation with Northwestern University professor Dr. Kate Masur and University of
Nebraska – Lincoln scholar Dr. Elizabeth Lorang, moderated by The Washington Post
reporter Krissah Thompson
Saturday, April 18
• African Americans and the Meaning of Emancipation: A conversation with Howard
University professor Dr. Edna Greene Medford and anthropologist Dr. Cheryl LaRoche,
moderated by The Washington Post columnist Joe Davidson
• Sick from Freedom: African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War: A
conversation with Connecticut College professor James Downs, moderated by Scott
Stossel, Editor of The Atlantic
• Poems of the Anglo-African and Anti-Slavery Standard: A conversation and reading
featuring poets Nikki Giovanni and Kyle Dargan, and scholars Dr. Elizabeth Lorang and
Dr. R.J. Weir, moderated by writer Dolen Perkins-Valdez.
Sunday, April 19
• Historic Walking Tour of Capitol Hill
• African American Foodways During the Civil War: A conversation with University of
Maryland professor Dr. Psyche Williams-Forson, moderated by Carla Hall, co-host of
ABC’s The Chew.
• Closing concert of African American music from the Civil War era: Washington
Performing Arts’ Men and Women of the Gospel Choir under the direction of Stanley J.
Thurston (Note this performance will take place at Christ Church, 620 G Street, SE)
Although free, tickets are required for each event and will be available on April 1, 2015 at
benjamindrummonddc.org. Additional program information is available online as well.
The Benjamin Drummond Emancipation Celebration will coincide with the conclusion of the
Civil War sesquicentennial. Importantly, it will frame a larger discussion concerning the
contributions of African Americans to the Civil War; as well as antebellum, wartime, and
postwar life in Washington, DC, and the city’s role in one of the most significant watershed
periods in American history.
For more information, interviews and media rsvp contact Jody Arlington,
jodyarlington@mac.com or 202.316.4316 mobile
Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital provides a vibrant home for culture, education and city life on Capitol Hill. As
a hub for community and personal enrichment, Hill Center offers programming in eight focus areas: Arts &
Performances; Children, Teen & Family; Computers & Technology; Food & Garden; Hobbies, Crafts & Games;
Language & Humanities; Lectures & Conversations; and Mindful Motion & Health. Hill Center also hosts a NonProfit Office Center, which provides reduced cost office space for non-profit organizations. Hill Center offers patrons
the unique experience of quality programming in a restored Civil War-era naval hospital commissioned by President
Lincoln. For more information, visit hillcenterdc.org.
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