Three Things on My Mind
- Pam Hamman with me—under a tree!
#2 Last weekend I had the opportunity to spend some time with Larry Earl, the Director of the Houston African-American Cultural Museum. Larry has been a presenter for the last decade at every Mount Vernon Summer Teacher Institute. I had the honor of attending one of his sessions in the summer of 2008 and Larry was so interesting that I knew I had to get him to come to Oklahoma. He made four presentations for the A+ Statewide Conference on September 12. Mr. Earl involved the audience in African folktales, songs of those who worked in the fields, and instrumental music of slaves. He informed the audience how much the American culture is inherently African—from the colorful outfits we wear, to the music we hear, and the words we say. Larry even explained that George Washington started the tradition of having African-American chefs for the Presidency. It all started with Hercules, one of the General’s “People” (that is the way Washington generally referred to his slaves). Hercules, like some other of the President’s slaves, had some “off-duty activities to help him earn more money. . .Hercules, working as the chef for Washington in Philadelphia, was able to make a good deal of money by selling slops from the kitchen. He was described at this period as wearing white linen, black silk breeches and waistcoat, highly-polished shoes with large buckles, a blue cloth coat with velvet collar and bright metal buttons, a watch fob and chain, cocked hat, and gold-headed cane, items much finer that the clothing issued to him. (Schwarz, pg. 91).” Washington learned from Attorney General Randolph that “Pennsylvania law allowed any slave who was resident for six months within the state to demand emancipation. The President then had Martha take the slaves back to Mount Vernon before the six month period expired. When Hercules got wind of the scheme, he expressed a sense of personal insult that his loyalty to Washington was not taken for granted. Eventually Hercules was allowed to stay in Philadelphia, where he remained Washington’s highly valued cook until the end of the second presidential term, at which point he absconded, much to Washington’s surprise and chagrin (Ellis, pg.203).” “Hercules escaped detection and remained a free man (Ellis, pg. 260).”
#3 A recent survey was conducted by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (a think tank based in Oklahoma City). The survey consisted of phone interviews with 1,000 students from our state. One of the questions asked was, “Who was the first President of the United States?” The survey results stated that three out of four Oklahoma students could not answer the question correctly. I respectfully disagree with these findings. During the 2008-2009 school year I traveled to almost SEVENTY public schools and presented to 9, 230 students in Oklahoma. I always asked the children questions about George Washington at the beginning of each program in order to gauge what they already knew. I can say unequivocally that 99% identified George Washington as the FIRST PRESIDENT of the United States BEFORE I gave my presentation. I guess I have yet to find the schools where the 1,000 surveyed attend.
- Larry Earl presenting at the OK A+ Conference
