Faces of freedom come alive through Black history storytelling effort

Chicago Tribune

5 days ago

For the sake of sharing some newly emerging Black and deeply rooted American history, Hayden Flanagan, 13, a student at Calvin Christian School in South Holland, had no reservations about playing the wife of a slave owner in last month's Juneteenth Jubilee at Sandridge Nature Center, also in South Holland.
She and several other young people in the school's 'Faces of Light' acting troupe performed a short play about a journey to freedom undertaken by a woman few people know about.
'I feel like it's important to spread the word about what happened,' Flanagan said. 'A lot of people still don't seem to recognize that slavery hurt people. It ruined lives. It wasn't very far from us, and it wasn't that long ago.'
On July 4, 1843, Caroline Quarlls made the conscious decision to escape from a household in St. Louis that included 31 slaves. At 16, she became one of more than 4,000 enslaved people who traveled by way of Underground Railroad Network routes passing through the Chicago region to freedom in Canada. Besides those aided by conductors in the secretive social network, many other freedom seekers traveled on their own.
Larry McClellan, president of the Midwest Underground Railroad Network, researched Quarlls' story extensively for his biography titled 'To the River.'
'You could say that these kids are taking the first steps in an effort to make more people aware of Caroline Quarlls and others involved in this movement,' he said.
Quarlls boarded a riverboat up the Mississippi. Her journey took her to Rock Island and Galena, north to Milwaukee, then back south to through Illinois, through Dundee, Lockport and places Indiana and Michigan along the southern rim of Lake Michigan, then eastward to Detroit.
Just across the Detroit River, Quarlls settled in Sandwich, Ontario, where she married and raised six children.
Several Midwest Underground Railroad Network board members, McClellan said, are engaged in working with school and community groups to tell freedom seeker stories in different ways and through different mediums, with assistance from the Chicago Association of African American Storytellers.
Other historical figures to be highlighted in this historical storytelling effort include Henry Stevenson, who sought freedom and helped others, Dutch farmers Jan and Aagie Ton, who provided refuge to freedom seekers at their farm in what became Chicago's Roseland neighborhood, and John and Eliza Little who escaped enslavement in western Tennessee.
At Sand Ridge Nature Center, the story of Quarlls came to life.
'Happy Fourth of July, everybody, but not for you. Get back to work!' said James Kelly, 9, in a booming voice. Wearing a three-cornered hat, he used plenty of swagger to portray Quarlls' owner, Robert Quarlls, who also happened to be a descendent of a participant in the American Revolution.
'It was the case for many freedom seekers that the only way for them to find true freedom was to leave the United States,' McClellan said.
The biographical play, written by educator and storyteller Edith 'Mama Edie' C. McCloud Armstrong, portrays Quarlls at different stages of maturity.
Lauren Clark, 11, played Quarlls at age 16.
'It feels good to represent her,' Clark said. 'We started out with this play at church, then did it for our school, and now we're here, at a bigger place, letting more people know about her. It feels really nice to play her and hear our voices heard.'
Packing plenty of action into just a few short moments, the dramatization revealed harsh historical realities.
It opened with Dani Davis, 9, who portrays Quarlls as a child, being scolded and beaten. She also laments the fact that the man who owns her took advantage of her mother and is also her father.
Quarlls performed household cleaning chores and was whipped by her owners, but she also learned to sew and embroider fine linens. Any money she earned for this was taken by the slave owner, according to the play.
'I appreciate how much she's learned about Caroline Quarlls and how important it is to bring her story to other people,' said Jazmin Davis, mother of Dani Davis. 'It makes you reflect on how close this really was.'
Before the start of the play, Nyleah Kelly, 13, stage manager, said, 'This play is pretty cool. I'm excited to see how it will play out.'
The young actors did not disappoint. Their rousing cheers of 'Freedom!' at the play's end were met with hearty applause.
Peyton Robinson, 13, played Quarlls at age 12. Lanea Kelly, 11, played Quarlls' mother. London Stamps, 11, was music director.