The Lee-Fendall House Museum and Garden marked Black History month with a program Feb. 12 titled “Under the Same Roof: Enslaved and Free Workers at Lee-Fendall.”
Attendees of the outdoor event learned about the enslaved and free African Americans who lived and worked in the home, both before and after the Civil War. Stories were shared of the experiences of the enslaved and their contributions to the site and its history.
The home dates back to 1785 and served as a residence for several generations of the family of Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee until 1903. Both enslaved and free African Americans lived and worked on the property with this period of residency only interrupted during the Civil War when the Union Army turned the property into a hospital for wounded soldiers.
A video of some of the stories shared during the Under the Roof program is available at www.leefendallhouse.org.