I just said, if I were trying to show these two boys, my two sons, what I thought the character of a man was - of an American man, of a man of color - that's what Solomon was when I read this book. a man who used every part of himself to survive - his wits, his guile, his physicality - but never gave into bitterness, never gave up his faith in other people and the system that completely let him down. On how he was struck by Solomon Northup and his story But we can change who we are in this moment. What happened, happened we can't change that. Both women embraced and cried over their families’ unfortunate connection. Robert was born while Northup was enslaved at the Epps place. I think it's very important for people to not go into it going, "Oh, if my family did that 160 years ago, that's me." As opposed to, "Why don't we find out what happened? Why don't we find out how we got to a point now where our kids or our grandkids are in the same school, enjoying the same privileges, that we are citizens in the same country and can actually talk about this as opposed to being afraid or horrified about what happened?" Vanpool came up to her and introduced herself as a great-great-great-great-niece of Robert Epps - the youngest son of plantation owner Edwin Epps. She goes, "Oh, you know what? That's very possible." They started researching together, firing letters back and forth, looking to find out if that was true. I have family from Virginia." And the woman was not shocked, she was not taken aback. "Oh, well, you know what, your family, they probably owned our family. I used to have family in Virginia named Ridley."Īnd my dad just said very casually. and she said to him, "Oh, your name is Ridley?. And a woman from Virginia came up to my dad. This past summer, Vera Williams attended her annual family reunion and Solomon Northup Day.My father was out here in California at. The day honors her great-great-great grandfather, Solomon Northup, a free black man who was kidnapped and forced into slavery in 1841. When Northup escaped, he wrote a book about his experiences and-most shockingly for that era-took his kidnappers to trial. The book was recently made into the movie 12 Years A Slave. Solomon Northup Day was founded by Rene Moore, a local citizen of Saratoga Springs, NY, and has been celebrated for the past 15 years. Williams has helped organize family attendance to the events and manages a Facebook page for Solomon Northup Family and Friends. Relatives come together from across the country-including Williams’s own mother, who was honored this year as Northup’s oldest living descendant. Williams, center, holding a first edition of 12 Years a Slave, written by her great-great-great-grandfather Solomon Northup. Williams purchased the book from Lyrical Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, NY, where she was attending Solomon Northup Day.Vera Williams has worked at the National Archives since 2010, but she had no idea that records documenting her family history were in her workplace. This year, the attendees included film executives, actress Lupita Nyong’o, and other representatives from the movie 12 Years A Slave. Moore had contacted Fox Searchlight Pictures to tell them about the annual celebration, and in turn the film company reached out to Williams to let her know they were doing screenings around country. Guests at the Solomon Northup Day celebration in July were shown a trailer of the movie and comments from various people associated with the film including director Steve McQueen. Williams had the opportunity to speak with Nyong’o about her experience playing a slave. “She teared up and said it was the hardest role she had ever played,” said Williams.įor Williams, the story of her ancestor has been part of her life since she was young her mother was given a copy of the book by her grandmother. Even now, she thinks about what it must have been like for Northup as a free man in the North to suddenly become a slave in the South. His father, Mintus Northup, adopted the last name Northup from his ancestors that were once a slave. Williams notes that it was very different to live in that time knowing about slavery, but believing it happened only to other people. His mother was born free, but his father wasnt. “We can all relate to being 30 something, doing what we want, when we want-it is called freedom,” said Williams. He was the third and longest enslaver of Solomon Northup, who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C. “Solomon Northup had that freedom and the American Dream. Edwin Epps (1808 March 3, 1867) was a slaveholder on a cotton plantation in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. He was a free man with a family and home, he was self employed.
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