Museum Exhibit Speaks With Popular “Mother’s” Words

May 11, 2012 - PRLog -- (BELTSVILLE, MD – May-July 2012)  A Roaring 20’s satin wedding dress faded with color, a Freedman’s Bureau banking certificate with an “X” as a signature and original Harlem Renaissance music scores are among the artifacts, documents and photographs displayed at the Abraham Hall Museum in Beltsville, Maryland during a three month-long dedicated exhibit called “Pearls of Wisdom from Past Generations”, which also highlights popular family sayings, expressions and quotes. Opened on Monday, May 7, 2012, the sayings help propel the exhibit’s momentum and includes family expressions including “A penny saved is a penny earned” which is featured next to a family-owned 1920’s “Mammy” bank, “The family that prays together stays together” near a Ford-Deas family portrait and “There's strength in numbers.” displayed with World War I memorabilia, photos and medals.

Propelled by generations of these sayings, also common in other families and often passed down as a part of African American family tradition, the Ford – Deas family, hailing from Charleston, South Carolina, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Blackstone, Virginia believe strongly in preserving the legacy and decided to share and loan their personal items to the museum, along with a book written by three generations of the family; grandmother Celia Ford, daughter Terri Allen and granddaughter Pamela Simonson. Allen, the family’s archivist and genealogist has also traced their roots back to Sierra Leone, Huntingdonshire, England and Nigeria making their family story a poignant one especially since the research is accompanied with hundreds of items.

Housed at Abraham Hall, the 1889 restored benevolent society lodge is owned and operated by Maryland National Capital Park and Planning (MNCPPC) and is located at 7612 Old Muirkirk Road, Beltsville, Maryland 20705. The exhibit is open daily M-F, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm through the end of July where individual or group tours may also be scheduled by appointment by calling 240-264-3415.  A special reception is scheduled for Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 10:00 am and will feature the trio as guest speakers.

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