Visiting Uncle Tom’s plantation
The Josiah Henson Museum and Park aims to educate the public about the life and legacy of the man who inspired the character Uncle Tom.
After I posted on social media that I was visiting a museum honoring the life of the man who inspired the character Uncle Tom, I instantly received messages asking a version of the same question.
“Why are you at a museum dedicated to a coon?”
Today, the term Uncle Tom is generally used as a derogatory insult toward a self-hating Black man who works exceptionally hard to gain the approval of white people.
But Josiah Henson, whose life Harriet Beecher Stowe drew from for her noted 19th-century anti-slavery novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” is much more than the insults now associated with the character based on his life.
The Josiah Henson Museum and Park in North Bethesda, Maryland, aims to educate the public about the true exploits and legacy of the towering figure whose history you may not have learned in school.
Born into slavery in 1789 in Maryland, Henson would eventually escape to freedom in Canada and establish the Dawn Settlement, a community in Ontario where hundreds of free Black people attended school and learned trades. He returned to the American South on multiple occasions to help free more enslaved persons. He freed around 118 people, including his brother.
Related: The Man Who Became Uncle Tom, The Atlantic
The Montgomery County chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the learning center Minds In Motion Childcare brought approximately 25 middle and high school students to the museum, which is located directly on the plantation property where Henson was enslaved. I served as a chaperone during the field trip.
Led by docents, the tour opened with a video detailing Henson’s exploits. He published his autobiography, “The Life of Josiah Henson: Formerly a Slave, Now an Inhabitant of Canada, as Narrated by Himself,” in 1849. The video explained how that autobiography served as a source for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom's Cabin,” and how his story, which described the true horrors of slavery in detail, infuriated Southerners, who sought to deny history — not too dissimilar to the moment we’re currently facing.
Minstrel shows of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” began appearing across the country following the publishing of the novel, in an attempt to make light of the book and obscure just how awful slavery was for its victims. The shows helped transform Uncle Tom’s character from the figure known in the books, to the servile yes-man who would do anything to appease whites. More people today know of the racist caricature, which is why the “Uncle Tom” insult has stuck over the decades.
“Now allow me to say that my name is not Tom, and never was Tom, and that I do not want to have any other name inserted in the newspapers for me than my own. My name is Josiah Henson, always was, and always will be,” Henson said during a visit to Glasgow, Scotland in 1877.
As students moved through the historic house filled with interactive exhibits, artifacts, and a log kitchen dating back to 1850, some were stunned to learn they lived so close to a former plantation. The park is also a working archeological site; the docents pointed out archeologists on the grounds excavating artifacts. Thousands of artifacts have been uncovered.
Opportunities for students to explore museums dedicated to Black history are needed now more than ever, as pressure to erase it rises.
Mia Lewis, a descendant of Henson, told Montgomery Parks that the entire purpose of the museum is to change the public’s perception of the man people have come to know as “Uncle Tom.”
“My hope is that people will come to understand who the Rev. Josiah Henson truly was, a man of tremendous strength, intelligence, loyalty, and of great faith. That individuals will walk away understanding the current use of ‘Uncle Tom’ as a derogatory term is not at all who the real Uncle Tom was,” said Lewis, his Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter.
“The real Uncle Tom was a hero, a family man, a man who risked his life on countless occasions by helping others escape slavery. A man to be proud of,” she continued. “This platform will help to change the current narrative with so many and teach upcoming generations of his life and the many contributions he made to the US and Canada.”
The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm, and Sundays from 12 pm to 4 pm.
Hi Phil
I’m Australian and really appreciated your post. I must say, I was horrified to know that you had received such disgusting comments about the visit. Josiah was a very courageous man and the history must be preserved. Thank you.
Crucial knowledge! Thanks for educating us!