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The President's House: Freedom and Slavery in Making a New Nation

Monday, June 5, 2006, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA

This program was one of a series designed to inform the public about the project's progress and to enrich the understanding of the process of building a commemorative site. The two exceptional speakers explored the theme of Commemorative Sites: the Opportunities for Teachable Moments.

Audio Files

Note: you can click the links here to listen to the audio files, or you can right-click the links to save these mp3 files to your computer.

• Introductions A statement from Mayor John Street, and introductions by Roz McPherson [Note: the audio quality of this section is just fair. The audio for the main speakers is good.] (19 minutes)
• Howard Dodson Chief of the acclaimed Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library. Since 1984, Mr. Dodson has been at the helm of the largest historical archive in the world about people of African descent. An historian, lecturer, educator, and author, he chaired the Federal Steering Committee for the African Burial Ground in lower Manhattan. (42 minutes)
• Fath Davis Ruffins Curator of African American History and Culture in the Division of Home and Community Life at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. An award-winning historian, author, and exhibit developer, she has concentrated on preserving and restoring African American history. (50 minutes)
• Question/Answer Period (28 minutes)

Commentary

• Michael Coard commentary on WHAT radio, on Tuesday morning, June 6. [Note: the audio quality is poor, unfortunately] (1 minute)

Winamp Playlist

• Playlist containing all 5 files in sequence