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“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Phoebus in Hampton, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
REMOVED
SEE LOCATION SECTION
 

Emancipation Oak

“Thirst for Knowledge”

 
 
Emancipation Oak CWT Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, July 31, 2010
1. Emancipation Oak CWT Marker
Inscription.
Here, under an oak tree, newly freed African American students listened in January 1863 as the Emancipation Proclamation was read aloud. Union Gen. Benjamin F. Butler’s “contraband of war” decision at Fort Monroe in 1861 anticipated that day, enabling hundreds of enslaved African Americans to reach freedom in the Union lines. The rising number of “contrabands” camped here prompted the establishment of schools — antebellum slave codes had forbidden the education of slaves — and the freedmen exhibited “a great thirst for knowledge.”

Mary Peake, a free-born African American, had disregarded the law and taught slaves to read in her home near the Hampton Academy. After her house and the town of Hampton were burned on August 7, 1861, she taught in an abandoned cottage next to the Chesapeake Baptist Female Seminary. Peake’s death from tuberculosis in 1862 ended her outstanding work but did not end educational opportunities for contrabands. The American Missionary Association, a New York-based Christian philanthropic society, sent the Rev. Lewis C. Lockwood to Hampton in its first missionary endeavor of the war. When Lockwood arrived in September 1861, he noted that the “parents and children are delighted with the idea of learning to read.” The association established
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two schools here and sent appeals to Northerners to underwrite books, other supplies, and missionary teachers. Additional schools were created at Fort Monroe, Camp Hamilton, and the burned-out Hampton courthouse, which missionaries and contrabands renovated together. When Butler returned here in 1863, he used government funds to construct a school that could accommodate 600 students. Known as the Butler School, it was a frame building constructed in the shape of a Greek cross that stood, appropriately enough next to the Emancipation Oak.
 
Erected by Virginia Civil War Trails.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African AmericansEducationWar, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the Virginia Civil War Trails series lists. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1863.
 
Location. This marker has been replaced by another marker nearby. It was located near 37° 1.385′ N, 76° 19.833′ W. Marker was in Hampton, Virginia. It was in Phoebus. Marker could be reached from Emancipation Drive, 0.1 miles east of East Tyler Street. Touch for map. Marker was in this post office area: Hampton VA 23669, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this location.
Emancipation Oak CWT Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, July 31, 2010
2. Emancipation Oak CWT Marker
A different marker also named Emancipation Oak (here, next to this marker); Hampton Institute (a few steps from this marker); a different marker also named Emancipation Oak (within shouting distance of this marker); John Baptist Pierce (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Phoebus (approx. 0.2 miles away); Second Church at Kecoughtan (approx. ¼ mile away); First Church at Kecoughtan (approx. ¼ mile away); This Wall (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hampton.
 
More about this marker. On the lower left are a photo of “Gen. Benjamin Butler” and a sketch carrying the caption, “Contrabands escaping,” May 29, 1864 by Edwin Forbes. Many thousands of slaves emancipated themselves by fleeing to Union lines after Butler’s “contraband of war” decision became Federal policy. – Courtesy Library of Congress

On the upper right are a photo of “Mary Peake – Courtesy Hampton University Museum” and a sketch of “The Butler School” – Courtesy Timothy L. Smith
 
Related marker. Click here for another marker that is related to this marker. This marker has been replaced with the linked marker which slightly different formatting and text.
 
Also see . . .
The Emancipation Oak image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Bernard Fisher, July 31, 2010
3. The Emancipation Oak

1. Emancipation Oak. Hampton University (Submitted on August 1, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.) 

2. Mary Peake. African American Trailblazers in Virginia History, Library of Virginia (Submitted on August 1, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.) 
 
Contrabands Escaping image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Edwin Forbes, May 29, 18
4. Contrabands Escaping
Library of Congress [LC-USZC4-1455]
Mary Smith Kelsey Peake (1823–1862) image. Click for full size.
5. Mary Smith Kelsey Peake (1823–1862)
Courtesy Hampton University Museum
The Butler School image. Click for full size.
July 31, 2010
6. The Butler School
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on February 1, 2023. It was originally submitted on August 1, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 2,956 times since then and 21 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on August 1, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.

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Mar. 19, 2024