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Home | Appearances | Storytelling | Special Presentations | Contact Us
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A Rocking Chair and A Trunk Camille J. Born, Storyteller |
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Maddie Simmons,Young
Abolitionist,
Camille tells the fictional story of Maddie Simmons, a young girl from Westerville, Ohio whose family’s house
was a station on the Underground Railroad from 1850—1861 - from the time
Maddie was five years old until the Civil War began when she was 16. The story describes how Maddie and her brothers, even as young children, helped their parents to provide shelter and aid to fugitive slaves and assist them on their journey to Canada and freedom. Aiding fugitives was against the law, and Camille relates how Maddie’s home was searched by deputies and slave hunters alike. The story tells how Maddie’s mother would hold the baby and sit in her rocking chair on the rug that covered a trap door to the false root cellar where the slaves were hidden. |
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The little boys of the family would be spinning tops on the trunk next to her mother’s chair—the trunk that once hid an escaping slave. To the Simmons family descendants, that rocking chair and trunk became the symbols of the time they helped others along the trail to freedom. |
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Audiences A Rocking Chair and A Trunk: Stories and Folktales from the Era of the Underground Railroad is an excellent presentation for students of Middle School, Junior High School or High School ages. Camille can customize the presentation to fit the focus of your Language Arts, Reading, Library or Social Studies curriculum. |
History Comes Alive True tales of slave escapes and old Southern folk tales the slaves might have retold are woven into the story of the Simmons family. This unique composition helps to bring this historic era alive for students. |
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Camille J. Born *
1404 S. Buckthorn Lane * Mahomet, IL 61853 * Phone: 217-493-2675
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