The Levi and Catharine Coffin State Historic Site is hosting events as part of Indiana Humanities’ One State/One Story initiative based on the book “All That She Carried” by Dr. Tiya Miles.
The book chronicles Miles’ work interpreting “Ashley’s Sack” that had been passed down through an enslaved Black family, according to a news release. A woman named Rose gave her daughter the item before the daughter was sold.
Eunice Trotter, director of Indiana Landmarks’ Black Heritage Preservation Program, will lead a discussion of the book from 2 to 4 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Quaker Welcome Center’s Historic Newport Meetinghouse, 201 U.S. 27, Fountain City. Afterward, participants will receive a guided tour of the Coffin home.
A Preserving Family History workshop will be 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 2 at the meetinghouse. Participants will receive tips from Meghan Smith, the conservation lab manager for the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, about caring for important family objects.
A William Bush Journey to Freedom presentation will be 6:30 to 8 p.m. Nov. 16 at the Coffin site. Bush’s great-great-granddaughter and Coffin site volunteer Eileen Baker-Wall will tell the story of the freedom-seeker who came to Fountain City in the 1840s and became a business and landowner. He was known as the town’s “captain” of the Underground Railroad.
Each program requires registration costing $5. Register online at indianamuseum.org/programs/levi-coffin-days-tours-2/.
A version of this article appeared in the October 23 2024 print edition of the Western Wayne News.