Special to the AFRO
In 2005, several Black women from the Greater Washington Area were asked by officials at Washington, D.C.’s African American Civil War Museum to serve as hostesses for an event.
But instead of simply showing up in their Sunday best, the volunteers decided to don the personas of little-known Black women who were prominent during the Civil War era.
Dressed in garb commonplace for Black women during that time period, the hostesses made such an impression that they formed an organization, FREED (Female RE-Enactors of Distinction), that continues to make appearances at schools, businesses, private affairs and other organizations throughout the D.C area…