Robert Roberts: Author and Abolitionist
To schedule this FREE program at your school, please complete this form .
Robert Roberts: Author
and Abolitionist is
a 40-minute one-man performance
that explores the themes
of racial equality and freedom,
the dignity of work, and
the importance of character.
Robert Roberts, a free African-American,
was a prominent abolitionist
in Boston and the butler
of Massachusetts Governor
Christopher Gore from 1825-1827.
The performance employs Roberts'
own words—derived from his
impassioned 1831 articles
in William Lloyd Garrison's
abolitionist newspaper, The
Liberator, and from
his 1827 book The House
Servant's Directory.
The Roberts character references
historical events and persons, including
abolitionism; the African Colonization
Movement; William Lloyd Garrison;
(lawyer and future Senator) Charles
Sumner; leaders of the Boston community
of "colored freemen"; his
son, Benjamin Franklin Roberts, who
brought the first public school desegregation
suit in Boston in 1848 on behalf
of his daughter, Sarah Roberts; and
family members (two of Roberts' New
Hampshire brothers-in-law were captured
and sold as slaves). Robert Roberts
gives voice to Boston's cultural
and social history, especially the
black experience, of the early to
mid-19th century.
The 40-minute program appropriate
for grades 5-12 has connections to
the Massachusetts
Curriculum Frameworks and includes questions and answers.
For more information: Contact Tamar Agulian, (781) 894-2798 or tamar.agulian@goreplace.org .
Roberts is portrayed by actor Guy Peartree. After receiving a degree in Anthropology and Linguistics, Mr. Peartree began to write short stories and pursue storytelling. Born in North Carolina, he is well known in the Boston area for his portrayals of Frederick Douglass, Lewis Hayden, George Washington Carver, and William Craft. A bilingual storyteller, he also conducts storytelling and story-writing workshops.
Playwright Cynthia Collins Johnson was series producer of WGBH-TV's Emmy Award-winning weekly public affairs program, Basic Black .
Funding for the production of Robert Roberts: Author and Abolitionist has been provided by the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Watertown Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.