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Montpelier depot takes visitors to segregated past Montpelier Station train depot is restored to its 1910-era form, including separate waiting areas for 'colored' and 'white' Date published: 2/22/2010
By PAMELA GOULD Yesterday, African-Americans walked through the entrance marked "white" at the Montpelier train depot. They weren't surprised that the space inside was larger than the one marked "colored." They had always known that was the case. Separate, but not equal. Annette Freeman grew up in South Carolina and lived through those days. "I remember going into a colored section like that," the 77-year-old said. "I was about 10. "It takes you back," she said after exiting the exhibit that opened yesterday on the grounds of Montpelier. The Montpelier estate in Orange County was home to James Madison, the nation's fourth president, and later the duPont family. William duPont bought the property in 1901 and built the train depot nine years later, following specifications dictated by racial segregation laws in place in Virginia and the South from the 1890s through the 1960s. The Montpelier Foundation hired a master craftsman in 2008 to faithfully restore the depot to re-create a chapter of American history many would prefer to forget. The exhibit in the depot was dedicated yesterday to the memory of Russell Coffin Childs, a former Montpelier project director, who advocated the restoration of the depot to tell the story of segregation. Ruth Long, a retired educator and member of the Orange County African-American Historical Society, quoted Virginia native Carter G. Woodson in making the case for remembering such painful chapters of the nation's past. "Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history," he said. "Montpelier ensures we won't forget our forbears," Long said. The restored depot "tells the larger story of the struggles of Virginians, of African-Americans in this country at large," she said. Montpelier officials noted that exactly 200 years after Madison--a slave holder--took office as president, the nation installed Barack Obama as its first black president. Keynote speaker Juan Williams, a journalist and author who has written about the civil rights movement, noted the significant changes that have taken place in the nation since Madison, known as the "father of the Constitution," wrote the document meant to insure personal freedoms.
Date published: 2/22/2010
Mustang2 asks some excellent qquestions. It should be remembered that the Free Lance Star is a liberal newspaper and that every historical event can only be seen through the eyes of white liberal guilt. It does not matter that most (black and white) high school kids today do not feel racism is a big factor in their lives. The fact that it used to exist must be used as a bludgeon and beaten into Americans every day. Nothing else matters to the modern Limousine Liberal.
an old railroad station? Anything? What were rail stations used for? Where did the train take people? How did people arrive at the station? How much did it cost? Was it heated? How? Were there restrooms? How long did it take to get from one place to another? Wow what a myoptic view of history. Did anything else occur besides segregation? Is anything else of any import at all in history? Good questions all. We are killing our nation with nurturing grievance and ignoring the fine points of history.
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