The Lexington estate of a slave-owning politician who ran for President four times has several events planned for Black History Month. Jim Clark is the executive director of the Henry Clay Memorial Foundation. He said beginning Friday, they’ll offer special tours of Ashland every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.
“Which incorporates the story of the enslaved people as well as the people that were later employed by the McDowell family when they purchased it back after the Civil War.”
Clark said Ashland’s Black History Month tours will be discounted, with children K through 12 getting in free. As for Clay’s legacy, Clark said it’s complicated – when he was alive, pro-slavery forces considered him an abolitionist, while many abolitionists didn’t trust the Great Compromiser on the slavery question.
“There are several political cartoons that would indicate that he was speaking out of both sides of his mouth, depending on which side of the Mason-Dixon Line he was on. And it greatly irritated both sides.”
On Saturday, February 22nd, Ashland will host an open house, with members of the African American Genealogical Society and the county clerk’s digital access project on hand.
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