Stories & Essays: At War with Ourselves

At center of photo, Odessa Taylor films a re-enactment while watching, with her daughter Tabria, 8, mother Maggie and aunt Ora Walker, the Contraband of War Sesquicentennial Celebration at Fort Monroe in Hampton. One hundred and fifty years earlier, three escaped slaves crossed over to then Fortress Monroe seeking Union protection; they were declared contraband and thus freed. One of the few Hampton residents on hand for the May event, Taylor said she wanted to bring her daughter “so she’ll know her history.”
At center of photo, Odessa Taylor films a re-enactment while watching, with her daughter Tabria, 8, mother Maggie and aunt Ora Walker, the Contraband of War Sesquicentennial Celebration at Fort Monroe in Hampton. One hundred and fifty years earlier, three escaped slaves crossed over to then Fortress Monroe seeking Union protection; they were declared contraband and thus freed. One of the few Hampton residents on hand for the May event, Taylor said she wanted to bring her daughter “so she’ll know her history.”