The cooperating association for Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park
Living History Day: African Americans
Sat, Feb 10
|Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic P
Marshall Gold Discovery SHP will celebrate the contributions made by settlers of African American descent in the Coloma Valley. Author Shirley Moore will speak at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
Time & Location
Feb 10, 2018, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic P, 310 Back St, Coloma, CA 95613, USA
About the event
A portion of those who came to California during the gold rush were African American; some came as slaves, some came as freeman hoping to earn enough to purchase the freedom of family members, some came as runaway “fugitive” slaves. For these people, mining offered the possibility of swiftly purchasing freedom for themselves and their families.
Coloma’s rich history includes two prominent families of African American descent--the Monroe and Burgess families--whose stories are still being told at the park today. Members of the Burgess family will be at the park sharing family artifacts and stories.
At 11 a.m. join author Shirley Moore in the theater in the Gold Discovery Museum for a lecture and Powerpoint presentation covering Blacks on the Overland Trail and Black Families that Settled in the Gold Country.
At 1 p.m. children of all ages are invited to join Ms. Moore in the museum as she reads excerpts from her new, yet unpublished, children’s book about the voyage of the Sitka. The Sitka sailed her maiden voyage up the Sacramento River in 1847 from San Francisco to Sutter’s Fort.