Slave statue feature of Black History Month gala

BANGOR – Local black history and Maine’s role in the anti-slavery movement will be commemorated during a celebration that will help launch Black History Month, observed nationally each February.

Among the highlights of the event will be presentations on local black history and the Underground Railroad – and the official unveiling of a life-size bronze statue commemorating Maine’s role in the anti-slavery movement, according to local historian Dick Campbell of Orrington, a four-term state representative now running for Congress in Maine’s 2nd District.

The event, slated for 6-9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6, at Eastern Maine Technical College’s Rangeley Hall, will serve as a fund-raiser for the statue’s installation this spring, Campbell said. MBNA America is sponsor of the celebration, hosted by the Brewer Historical Society, Chamberlain Freedom Park and EMTC.

If all goes as planned, the statue will be set over a shaft at Chamberlain Freedom Park purportedly used by slaves en route to freedom in Canada. Campbell said supporters hope to have the statue installed by Memorial Day.

Featured speakers for the event will include Gov. Angus King, an honorary chairman for the statue project; John Jenkins, a former Lewiston mayor and state legislator now seeking to qualify as a Clean Election candidate for governor; and Gerald Talbot, civil rights activist and former state legislator.

Numerous other national, state and local dignitaries have been invited, including U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Atlanta, Ga., national chairman for the statue effort and a national figure in the modern civil rights movement. Honorary chairmen U.S. Rep. John Baldacci, U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins also have been invited.

Called “North to Freedom,” the life-size bronze likeness of a runaway slave is meant to serve as a tribute to those who traveled to freedom on the Underground Railroad, to the abolitionist movement and to Maine’s role in the Underground Railroad, according to Campbell, co-chairman with Brian Higgins of Chamberlain Freedom Park. Higgins also is a founder of the Maine Underground Railroad Association, a subcommittee of the Brewer Historical Society.

According to Campbell, the statue is the only one in the nation that honors those who escaped slavery by the Underground Railroad and those who aided their escape.

The $20,000 raised as of last August was enough to have the statue cast and brought to Brewer. Campbell said supporters hope next month’s fund-raiser will raise most or all of the $15,000 needed to install the sculpture.

The statue, by Houlton sculptors Glenn and Diane Hines, is a slightly larger-than-life depiction of a runaway slave looking back toward the south and leaning to the north as he hoists himself out of an underground tunnel to freedom.

The stone-lined shaft was discovered in 1996 while the Holyoke House was being demolished to make way for the new Penobscot River Bridge. The Holyoke House is believed to be one of an estimated 130 possible Underground Railroad stations in Maine.

Though not documented, oral tradition passed down by generations of local residents has it that the Holyoke House, once occupied by wealthy abolitionist John Holyoke and also known as the Christmas House, was one of the stations of the Underground Railroad. When the house was torn down in the mid-1990s to make room for the rebuilt Penobscot River Bridge, a “slave-style shirt” was found tucked in the eaves of an attic room.

Tickets are $50 and include dinner and desert. Those interested in attending the celebration should RSVP by calling 989-1769 by Feb. 1. Table sponsorships, which come with 10 tickets and a table sign, are available for $750. For more information, call Campbell at 745-7748.