Adam Francis Plummer
Plummer Day to Honor Champion of Faith, Family and Freedom
A lecture and reception to honor the remarkable life of Adam Francis Plummer, whose diary is on display in the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum exhibition on his legacy, will be held at 2:00 p.m. May 30th at , Bladensburg, MD 20710. A group of Prince George’s clergy are calling the gathering “Plummer Day,” in recognition of the fact that Plummer recorded his first diary entry on May 30, 1841, the day of his marriage to Emily Saunders.
Rev. Jerome Fowler, the administrator of St. Paul Baptist Church, Inc. of Prince George’s County and the great-great grandson of Plummer, will give the keynote lecture. Also presenting is Ms. Portia James, the Senior Curator/Cultural Resources Manager of the Anacostia Community Museum, a Smithsonian museum.
The diary is the only known diary of a U.S. slave written in first person while in slavery. The venue for the lecture is the church building that houses the Kingdom Missionary Baptist Church, pastored by the Reverend Charles W. Dockett. The building was purchased in 1873 and served as the house of worship for the Colored Baptist Church, founded by Adam Plummer’s daughter, Sarah Miranda Plummer. The church later was renamed the St. Paul’s Baptist Church, which met there until 1973, when the congregation moved to Capitol Heights, MD.
“Seen from the standpoint of the sum of his lifetime accomplishments, three factors seem to be the founts of Adam Plummer’s emotional energy: his faith, his devotion to family and his freedom. These virtues also are the three reasons to honor Mr. Plummer on May 30th, according to event organizers.
Interested participants can RSVP to plummerday@gmail.com. For more information on the Exhibition, “Hand of Freedom: The Life and Legacy of the Plummer Family,” visit anacostia.si.edu,