*“Discovery of people and the world around them,” said Research Author Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs about why she hosts the “More Than a Fraction” African-American Heritage & Culture Presentation and the “Traveling African Artifacts Exhibit,” which she brings to the community as often as she can. “Discovery and promote, it really is an excellent method to keep moving in life.”
Dr. Moseley-Hobbs first journey into the heritage and culture of black people started with her research into her own heritage and culture because her maternal great-grandmother, Isabel Fraction, was orphaned. Her documented research led her to the grounds of Virginia Tech University where she learned her ancestors, the Fractions, were enslaved at the Smithfield and Solitude plantations. The last descendants of the Smithfield and Solitude plantations donated the grounds for the establishment and development of Virginia Tech. When she reached out to Virginia Tech about receiving more information on her ancestors, it seems the Boards of Smithfield and Virginia Tech were looking for Fraction descendants. So impressed was Virginia Tech’s Board of Trustees by Dr. Kerri’s documented research that she now serves on the Board for the plantations where they were enslaved and the University that was birthed from it all.
At the request of her son Anthony Hobbs to put the documented research in a book, Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs published a creative nonfiction book “More Than a Fraction: Based on a true story,” about her ancestors. It tells their story, which included their enslavement, boarding a ship that brought them to America, brothers Thomas and Othello Fraction’s rebellious nature that resulted in run away slaves that fought in the Civil War, and their relocation from Virginia to Maryland. Today the Fraction brothers’ names appear on the War Memorial Wall in Washington, DC as war heroes.
“At the presentations I’ve seen them discover their heritage,” she added. “I have a traveling African exhibit, its hands on. People can touch it. When I was a little girl it was all in glass cases. Hands-on is a benefit…getting excited about history. Kids, like 7, enjoy putting on the (African) masks.”
Adults enjoy her African artifacts also. At her Virginia Tech lecture/presentation there was standing room only and afterwards the artifacts, and her book, resulted in a long line of people eager to put hands-on the artifacts and buy her book for more documented details of African heritage. Her “More Than a Fraction” presentation has been hosted in book stores, libraries and colleges.
Upcoming “More Than a Fraction” presentations and traveling exhibits arrive at the Waldorf West Library in Maryland Saturday November 2, 2019 (10am-2pm), the Eubie Blake Cultural Center in Baltimore Sunday November 24, 2019 (3-5pm) and at the African-American Civil War Museum in Washington, DC Sunday May 24, 2020 (1:30 – 3:30pm). Dr. Kerri Moseley-Hobbs has presented the research from the book twice at Virginia Tech thus far, as a lecture and at the site of the cabin that is noted by the University as the living quarters of her ancestors – The Fractions.
Dr. Moseley-Hobbs is a busy lady who works at the Department of Education in Washington, DC; manages the acting/filmmaking career of her prodigy son Anthony (www.Anthony-Michael.com), which took him to the Emmy Awards in 2013 for a role he had in a PBS mini-series and made him a multi-award winning filmmaker. Her son’s company, Imagination Lunchbox, LLC, host an annual film festival to screen and award short films made by kids, and an annual filmmaking workshop to teach kids how to produce their own projects. Aside from that, she has a vending space in a consignment shop where she sells antiques and still manages to take the time to bring the “More Than a Fraction” presentation and exhibit to the communities that invite her. The presentations and traveling exhibit are held in partnership with Imagination Lunchbox, LLC and The Baltimore Times Foundation, Times Community Services, Inc. www.ImaginationLunchbox.com
SYNDICATED COLUMN: Eunice Moseley, has an estimated weekly readership of over ¼ million with The Pulse of Entertainment. She is also a Public Relations Strategist and Business Management Consultant at Freelance Associates, and is Promotions Director (at-large) for The Baltimore Times. www.ThePulseofEntertainment.com. EVENT: Eunice is founder of the annual “Uplifting Minds II” Entertainment Conference (ULMII), into its 20th year. Next event dates include Los Angeles Saturday, November 9, 2019 at the Los Angeles Convention Center (511) and Baltimore Saturday April 18, 2020, held in partnership with Security Square Mall and The Baltimore Times. The free conference offers an Entertainment Business Panel and a Talent Showcase and Competition (vocal, songwriting, dance and acting) with over $15,000 valued in prizes/product/services to selected artists. Log onto www.UpliftingMinds2.com for more information or to participate as a panelist or talent call 562-424-3836.
www.GoFundMe.com/Uplifting-Minds-II-Entertainment-Conferenceboarding a ship that brought them to America, brothers Thomas and Othello Fraction’s rebellious nature that resulted in run away slaves that fought in the Civil War, and their relocation from Virginia to Maryland. Today the Fraction brothers’ names appear on the War Memorial Wall in Washington, DC as war heroes.
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