Editor’s note: The following article is a synopsis written by staff members and volunteers of the Cary Public Library highlighting one of the suggested reading books, as determined by their staff.
Ever hear of an evergreen oak tree? What one is able to learn from a children’s book!
“Under the Freedom Tree” by Susan VanHecke with dreamy pictures by London Ladd, is a thought-provoking story starting in 1861 and the U.S. Civil War. “Frank, James and Shepard” escape the south to the Union Army lines and freedom.
Fears, danger, unknown futures and only the day before their escape, Virginia had seceded from the Union making it possible for a Union general to classify them as “contraband of war” and keep them as workers for the North.
As hundreds of slaves made their way into the ruined city of Hampton, they scrambled to make a place for themselves. Each day was spent working for the Union Army, yet each night they worked for themselves, because they were “free” to do it. Even a make-shift school was formed to teach children a basic education so that in 1863 a boy could read The Emancipation Proclamation under the freedom oak tree.
Today the “Emancipation Oak” still stands, measuring nearly 100 feet in diameter, as one of the “Ten Great Trees of the World by National Geographic Society and is part of a National Historic Landmark District at Hampton University”. Remarkable, knowing the population settled in Virginia today especially in the Hampton Roads area.
Sparse wording, extra short sentences, and the beautiful illustrations give this short book a wonderful allure. Please read!
The Cary Public Library is open Monday-Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call 532-1302.
