This event is free to the public and will be held at 6 P.M. on Thursday, February 26th at Lockerman Middle School, 410 Lockerman Street, Denton, MD 21629
Born enslaved on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Nathaniel “Uncle Nace” Hopkins carried the scars of bondage but refused to let them define him. During the Civil War “Uncle Nace” enlisted with the United States Colored Troops, fighting for a freedom he has yet to taste for himself. Sent home sick and weary, he returned to Trappe determined to build a new life as a free man not just for himself, but for his entire community.
Through Nathaniel Hopkins’s eyes, the Talbot Historical Society and the descendants of Nathaniel Hopkins, in conjunction with professional actor Darius Wallace, will bring Nathaniel Hopkins to life to portray his journeys from the fields of slavery to the drums of war, to his triumphant creation of Maryland’s first Emancipation Day Celebration in 1867 – which continues to this day. Uncle Nace: The Day Freedom Came is a powerful one-man performance blending storytelling, music, and the voice of a man who transformed suffering into legacy. His annual Emancipation Day celebration , “Nace’s Day”—still echoes more than a century later, a call to remember that liberty is never given, only claimed.
