NEW: Sturbridge Village Celebrates MLK Day, Free Admission for Kids All Month

Email to a friend Permalink

Thursday, January 03, 2013

GoLocalWorcester Lifestyle Team

Old Sturbridge Village is saluting the New Year by offering free admission for children this month in addition to a number of other fun and exciting events.

Through January 31, all kids age 17 and under get free admission to the Village when accompanied by a paying adult.

On Martin Luther King Day, story teller and museum educator Tammy Denease will give a presentation entitled Honoring a Slave Heroine: The Mumbet Story. The presentation is based on the actual story of Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman, a slave who won her freedom in 1781.

Denease is influenced in her storytelling by stories that her great-grandmother, a former slave herself, told to her.

“I draw on my great-grandmother’s own life story for inspiration when portraying Mumbet," she said.

Mumbet had been a slave for 30 years in Massachusetts before suing to gain her freedom. Her lawsuit eventually lead to the banning of slavery statewide.

Mumbet cited the phrase "all men are born free and equal” in the Massachusetts constitution, and said “Anytime while I was a slave, if one minute’s freedom had been offered to me, and I was told I would die at the end of that minute, I would have taken it, just to stand on God’s green earth a free woman.”

Once free she changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman, and became a midwife, nurse and healer for the Sedgewick Family, after Theodore Sedgewick represented her in court.

In addition, an introductory class on pottery skills called A Potter's Work will be offered for children during the weekend of January 19-20. Children ages 6-17 are invited to wear period costumes while learning about the history of early New England farmers and potters and learn the process that goes into making pottery, including how to use the pottery wheel. Each child will take home their own self-crafted pottery memento.

Other activities being offered in January include ice skating, sledding, and sleigh rides. Visitors can also take advantage of the museum's warm fire places, and enjoy arts and crafts and the "Kid Story" indoor play area.