Beneath Independence Mall, story of early free black America
Robert Venable most likely came to Philadelphia a slave, shipped from Barbados as a little boy and ultimately bought and used by merchant Hugh Donaldson in the late 1740s.
But by the time of the Revolutionary War, when Venable moved into a small house at 79 N. Sixth St., he was a free man, manumitted by Donaldson in an act of generosity Venable would never forget.
His was a momentous move at a momentous time to an extraordinary part of the city - the block where the National Constitution Center now stands, which two centuries ago buzzed with the birth of free black America.
The Venable story, much of it locked underground and forgotten for centuries, is the kind of story Independence National Historical Park has started to tell visitors in recent years, largely thanks to archaeology.
"From an archaeological perspective, the Venable lot is the holy grail of African American sites in Philadelphia," said Douglas Mooney, an archaeologist with URS Group.
Read entire article at Philadelphia Inquirer
But by the time of the Revolutionary War, when Venable moved into a small house at 79 N. Sixth St., he was a free man, manumitted by Donaldson in an act of generosity Venable would never forget.
His was a momentous move at a momentous time to an extraordinary part of the city - the block where the National Constitution Center now stands, which two centuries ago buzzed with the birth of free black America.
The Venable story, much of it locked underground and forgotten for centuries, is the kind of story Independence National Historical Park has started to tell visitors in recent years, largely thanks to archaeology.
"From an archaeological perspective, the Venable lot is the holy grail of African American sites in Philadelphia," said Douglas Mooney, an archaeologist with URS Group.