Dear Colleagues & Friends,

As many of you may have heard, there have been major changes at James
Madison's Montpelier this week. In sum, the Montpelier Foundation Board has
voted to reverse its groundbreaking decision to share power with the
Montpelier Descendants Committee (MDC). The MDC is the official
organization of descendants of the enslaved, has democratically elected
representatives, and welcomes all descendants according to the rubric
for Engaging
Descendant Communities <https://montpelierdescendants.org/rubric/>. On
Friday, The Montpelier Foundation Board  adopted a policy that will allow
them to select who qualifies as a descendant and who they will work with.
This policy change goes against the strong objects of Montpelier staff, the
National Trust for Historic Preservation, and best practices in our field.
In addition, staff has been intimidated out of communicating with the
descendant community, staff jobs have been threatened for speaking up, and
misinformation has been spread.

Now, we are asking for your support in our fight.

Here are some ways you can help.


   - Email Letters of support for the descendants and staff.  These should
   be sent to CEO Roy Young  and TMF Board Chair Eugene Hickok at
   [log in to unmask] and copy the National Trust for Historic
   Preservation (who own the Montpelier property).
   - Read statements of support from organizations like the International
   Coalition of Sites of Conscience
   https://www.sitesofconscience.org/en/2022/03/standing-with-montpeliers-descendant-community/
   - Read & comment on this article in the Washington Post
   https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/03/25/james-madison-montpelier-enslaved-vote/
   - Follow the MDC to hear directly from descendants:
   https://twitter.com/jmmdescendants?s=21...
   - Sign the petition: https://chng.it/LjZ9Tqdbnt
   - Read the staff statement: https://montpelierstaff.com/.
   <https://montpelierstaff.com/>..

Please reach out if you have any questions.

Let's all use our voices together.

Mary


--
Mary Furlong Minkoff, PhD, RPA
#freemontpelier

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