*The very popular “More Than a Fraction” presentation of the documented research by Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs returned to the African American Civil War Museum (1925 Vermont Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20001) on Sunday May 24, 2020 from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Dr. Moseley-Hobbs recently presented the African-American heritage and cultural evidence at the civil war museum, which included artifacts and information about her ancestors from the civil war era. The African-American Civil War Museum asked for the return of the “More Than a Fraction” presentation in 2020. Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs documented evidence is also included in a creative nonfiction book titled “More Than a Fraction” (Imagination Lunchbox, LLC/2017).
Research Author Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs, who also has a traveling exhibit of artifacts from that era and from her ancestors’ homeland in West Africa, held the presentation at Virginia Tech University for their Civil War Studies Department as a lecture. She presented it for many of the Baltimore Enoch Pratt Library locations’ African-American history programs. Her next “More Than a Fraction: African-American Heritage & Cultural” presentation takes place at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center in Baltimore Saturday August 17, 2019 from 1 – 3 p.m.
The “More Than a Fraction” presentations are held in partnership with The Baltimore Times Foundation, Times Community Services, Inc., which focuses its grants on youth education. Her “More Than a Fraction” book was published by Imagination Lunchbox, LLC a production company that also hosts the annual Imagination Lunchbox International Children’s Film Festival, which screens and awards short films made by youth from around the world.
Her research tells a story of a family – the Fractions – who was transported on a ship called the True Blue to America for a life of enslavement at the Smithfield and Solitude plantations in Blacksburg, Virginia. By the Civil War the Fractions and other enslaved received a chance for freedom. Brothers Thomas and Othello Fraction decided to run away and enlisted in the Union Army to increase their chances of freedom. Not only did they survive the war but they walked away as heroes – with their names appearing on the War Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Today the research author is a member of the Smithfield-Preston Foundation’s Board of Trustees that oversees the historic estate and continues to work with Virginia Tech University on their Advisory Board for the Solitude estate. The Preston family, owners of the Smithfield and Solitude plantations, was the original owners and became the wealthiest family in Virginia. The last heir to the Smithfield estate was William Ballard Preston, a former Virginia State Senator and U.S. Secretary of the Navy. The last heir to the Solitude estate was his brother Robert Preston.
Dr. Hobbs is a direct descendant of Thomas Fraction, brother of Othello. Thomas became a land owner in Salem, Virginia and was noted by a local newspaper as being a “well known colored man” when he passed away. “More Than a Fraction: African American Heritage & Culture” also includes a very powerful Power-Point presentation where Dr. Moseley-Hobbs visually connects the African cultures of her ancestors’ to the cultural norms of African-Americans in the U.S. today.
To learn more about Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs visit www.ImaginationLunchbox.com or email [email protected]. To learn more about the African American Civil War Museum log onto www.AfroAmCivilWar.org. To learn more about the Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute & Cultural Center log onto www.EubieBlake.org. The “More Than a Fraction” creative nonfiction book can be purchased at Barnes & Nobles and Amazon websites.
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Freelance Associates
Contact: Eunice Moseley
Long Beach, CA 90807
Off: (562) 424-3836
E-mail: [email protected]
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