The Philip Reid and the Statue of Freedom Diversity Workshop Seminar Objective:   The Objective of this seminar is to fill in one of the gaps in the diversity of American history, namely coverage of the contributions of slaves in the building of the U.S. Capitol in general and more specifically on the contributions of one slave named Philip Reid in the casting of the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol dome   Seminar Resources: The Resources of this Seminar include:   The DVD/Video: Philip Reid and the Statue of Freedom. This 17 minute DVD/Video consists of a three minute illustrated presentation from The Cartoon History of the District of Columbia and a 13 minute illustrated lecturette by Architectural Historian of the Capitol.   The Book: The Biography of Philip Reid: Historical Fiction  by Eugene Walton. The author creates a personal life for Philip Reid, lived with the background of the factual events of history. In this novel Philip Reid is a high achiever in spite of the distractions of slavery. After supervising the casting of the Statue of Freedom he gains his freedom as a result of the D.C. Emancipation Proclamation, establishes his own business and marries an educated Free Black on the very same day the Statue of Freedom is raised to the Capitol dome.             The Seminar Leader’s Guide: The person conducting this half-day seminar is provided with a 21 page fully scripted Leader’s Guide. The Guide includes:  Step-By-Step Instructions for conducting the seminar with suggested dialogue for presentation of its content; Teaching Test consisting of 20 True/False items to measure participants’ mastery of the material presented in the DVD/Video; [Note: Test sheets are not collected but retained by participants.] Teaching Test answers and Comments for the Leader’s use in expanding the participants’ understanding; Three Book Excerpts Discussion Exercises (“Fact or Fiction or So What?”} that test participants’ knowledge of history while tingling  imaginations of “what might have been” in raising the question “So What?”

Seminar Agenda:    Seminar Warm-Up. Participants introductions and preview of Agenda. Philip Reid and the Statue of Freedom DVD-Video presentation. Teaching Test Response. Participants complete 20 item test form—retain forms for discussions. Teaching Test Debrief. Leader goes around class soliciting answers and expands their knowledge with data from Test Answers and Comments  section. Seminar Break.   The Biography of Philip Reid book and the “Fact or Fiction or So What?” Excerpts Exercises procedures introduction and explanations “Philip’s African Past” “Fact or Fiction or So What” Excerpt discussion. “Pay For Performance For Slaves?” “Fact or Fiction or So What?” Excerpt discussion. “No Reparations For Philip” “Fact or Fiction or So What?” Excerpt discussion.   Seminar Conclusion—Participants’ oral evaluations. Order the complete Philip Reid Diversity Program for $295

Philip Reid: Slave Caster of Freedom By Dr. Eugene Walton. When Freedom, the statue perched atop the dome of the U.S. Capitol, was hoisted in place on December 2, 1863, Philip Reid was there, in spirit if not in body, standing tall and relishing his greatest accomplishment. Philip Reid was a slave at the Bladensburg (Maryland) Foundry when he supervised the bronze casting of the statue. Shortly after he completed this mission, the District of Columbia issued its Emancipation Proclamation abolishing slavery within the Capital City and Philip Reid became a free man. Having recently achieved his own freedom was reason enough to make the hoisting of Freedom very special for Philip Reid. What made it even more special was the way in which he had come to supervise the casting of the statue. This is a true story that belongs near the top of the list of Great Chronicles of American History-a story that every American, particularly students, should study and take to heart. The story of Philip Reid and the casting of the Statue of Freedom is best told by Patrick Reynolds in his "Cartoon History of the District of Columbia". Thomas Crawford completed the full -size plaster model of Freedom at his studio in Rome, Italy in 1856. When cast in bronze, it would stand atop the Dome of the United States Capitol. In April, 1858, the model left Rome in six crates aboard the Emily Taylor. While crossing the Atlantic, the Taylor sprung a leak which got progressively worse. The Taylor made it to Bermuda and was condemned. Freedom was transferred to another ship for the trip to the Mills Foundry in Maryland. The Government had awarded the Mills Foundry a contract to cast the plaster model in bronze and the work began in May, 1860. When the casting was almost finished however, the Foundry Foreman went on strike for higher wages, believing he was the only person qualified to see the casting to its completion. Clark Mills, owner of the foundry, rejected the foreman's demand and instead turned to the slave who had been working along side of the Foreman and put him in charge of the final casting. The slave's name was Philip Reid. Philip Reid supervised the remaining casting of the statue in five sections, each weighing over a ton. The tons of Freedom were moved by wagons from Bladensburg, Maryland to Washington. Philip Reid and other slaves put the Statue of Freedom together on the grounds of the Capitol in 31 days during the Spring of 1863. On December 2, 1863 the Statue of Freedom was hoisted to the top of the Capitol Dome amid great celebration and a 35-Gun Salute. Philip Reid was amongst the last of hundreds of slaves involved in the building of the Capitol between 1790 and 1863. The slaves worked in the quarries of Virginia, digging and transporting the stone that became the beautiful building that we so admire today. At the building site the slaves performed the truly backbreaking work required to place the cut stones on the walls of the Capitol building. They dug trenches and ditches, hauled lumber and performed other tasks requiring great strength and stamina. About half the workforce at the Capitol building site were such slaves. During the Summer of 2000 the U.S. House of Representatives passed Resolution 368 to establish a task force to study ways of honoring the slaves who helped build the Capitol. This Resolution, when passed by the U.S. Senate, will begin a process that will shed light on one of the most un-illuminated stories in American History. In the meantime, all of us who are aware of this history have an obligation to educate Americans on Philip Reid's connection to the most prominently placed symbol in all of Washington. We must make sure that each American who peers at the Dome will not only see Freedom but will also know about Philip Reid's connection to the statue and about the contributions of the many slaves who helped build the U.S. Capitol. Dr. Eugene Walton is the Producer of the video-based workshop on Philip Reid and the slaves who built The Capitol (See workshop details on this page.) He was previously Coordinator of Affirmative Action Programs at the Library of Congress.