Filling the Gap

[Missouri Mule]

Hello everybody!

I just got an email from a colleague of mine in Florida about an upcoming PBS presentation that will be showing soon. I have often seen the Battle of Olustee mentioned on this site before so I thought I’d pass this along to the AC crowd. Trash or treasure . . . it's up to you.:)

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-black-history-film-20100201,0,4289942,print.story

[Virginia Mescher]

Re: Filling the Gap

This is Virginia's spouse posting.

The theme of the movie definitely seems interesting.

But does anyone know if Thomas Day, the free black who the newspaper article identifies as the largest cabinetmaker in North Carolina in 1850, was also a slaveholder? A consultation of the census records for North Carolina might be able to shed some light but I don't have access to the individual household records. All I could find on line for 1850 was that it seemed his household consisted of himself, a 44 year old female (probably his wife), a 17 year old male (son?), and an 84 year old male (father?), all classified as "mulatto."

If he was a slaveholder, I would hope that situation receives mention in the production. If he was, it wouldn't be surprising because it would seem he would be merely reflecting the culture where he lived.

Michael Mescher

[MissMia]

Re: Filling the Gap

I've heard of this film and have read about Mary Fears and her presentations at Olustee, I had no idea it would make it to PBS...this should be interesting!