Students from all around the Pee Dee learned about a prominent African American figure and what she faced to free herself and others from slavery.
And, they seemed to have a pretty good time doing it.
More than 1,600 students from schools all around the Pee Dee rolled into to the Francis Marion University Performing Arts Center on Wednesday for a production entitled “Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad.” The production chronicles the life of Harriet Tubman and her effort to free herself and others from the bonds of slavery by depicting the joys sorrows and challenges she faced.
For nearly an hour the cast of five took children back through time when slaves were considered property and painted a realistic picture of slavery in the mid-1800s.
Actor Jordan Hardy said that production is meant to give an accurate picture of slavery and raise awareness.
“It gets to you and reaches you and we need to learn to unify and learn about people like Harriet Tubman who inspired that,” Hardy said.
Hartsville Carolina Elementary School special needs teacher Debbie Odom teaches a lot of minority students and said it’s important for them to appreciate what people have done for them in the past.
“It was a great production,” Odom said. “It really brought the history of what she did alive. All the children were mesmerized by it.”
Tamashia Daise, a fourth grade teacher at North Vista Elementary School in Florence, said her students have studied slavery leading up to the performance. The performance offered more poignant insight into the issue, however.
“I think they enjoyed it and it was a reenactment of what they’ve been learning about,” Daise said.
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad is a production of Theatre IV, a non-profit professional theatre for young audiences based in Richmond, VA.
Children on Free and Reduced Lunch qualified for a free ticket to the performance on Wednesday, courtesy of the Konduros Fisherman’s Fund which gave $20,000 to fund tickets for needy kids at all four performances on the PAC’s Family Series.
The funds are administered by the Education Foundation.
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