The Association for Clinical Pastoral Education, Inc.

October 22-25, 2008 Richmond, Virginia

“Courageous Conversations: Division, Diversity, Dialogue.”

Here's a powerpoint presentation about Richmond you may look at: Richmond

Also available is a one page printout of the Conference highlights! Promotional_Flyer

The Richmond Times-Dispatch grants permission for the cited article (below) to be reprinted for the reason stated. If possible, handouts should include the credit line "Copyright Richmond Times-Dispatch, used with permission."

An Emphasis on Diversity

An actor-interpreter offers tourists a look at Virginia 's black history

Friday, Nov 16, 2007 - 12:01 AM

By ROBIN FARMER, TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

As an interpreter in Colonial Williamsburg, James Ingram's job provides him an astounding perk. "It's a honor for an African-American to tell these stories, because you're giving voice to people who did not have a voice," said Ingram, minutes after he finished his portrayal of Gowan Pamphlet, a tavern slave who became a preacher and founded the first Baptist church in Williamsburg . "This is the highlight of my life," said Ingram, dressed in the breeches, leggings, waistcoat, buckled shoes and round hat befitting a Baptist preacher in 1781. "I hope Gowan Pamphlet is pleased." As Pamphlet, he talks about his hopes for the future when all citizens are equal

and there is no official state religion.. . .

Ingram is among 45 actor-interpreters who enliven the Revolutionary City

program, a largely outdoor program that creates a real-time feel of Williamsburg during the years of the American Revolution. "We want to provoke our visitors. We don't just want to entertain," Ingram said.

"We're talking about subject matters people don't like to talk about" such as

politics, bigotry and race. "They sweep it under the rug, we bring it out in the open," said Ingram, who researches and helps write what he says.

For 14 years, the Portsmouth native has interpreted history as a full-time

employee with the Historic Area Division of the Colonial Williamsburg

Foundation. Ingram has depicted 25 roles ranging from Pamphlet to a freed slave named Matthew Ashby, who purchased his wife.. . .

So how did an ordained minister who holds a graduate degree from the Samuel

DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University come to portray a minister from another century? The zenith of his working life happened by chance. Ingram said he came to Williamsburg for a respite. On his way home he saw a "Job Fair" sign on the Colonial Parkway . "I asked myself, 'How do you get a job at Colonial Williamsburg?'" He went to the fair where folks were dressed in costumes and to his surprise saw

an African American Interpretations and Presentations sign. "I never thought Colonial Williamsburg had a focus on African-American history," Ingram said.

He started working that summer, and "here I am 14 years later," he chuckled.. . .

The banner year for attracting black tourists was in 1999 during the "Enslaving Virginia" yearlong program that cast costumed actors as slave leaders and slave owners. Larry Earl Jr., manager of African American Initiatives for the foundation, estimated that 12 percent of the tourists in 1999 were black. Today he estimated about 2 percent of the 750,000 visitors are black. Ingram said he would like to see more black re-enactors as well as tourists. He often chats with visitors who pepper him with questions after his performance. Sometimes he has to dispel the myths about slavery. One common misperception: Slaves sang in the fields because they were happy.

"No, they sang to keep the timing of the field hoe, to control the pace of the work. And they were passing on secret codes" to those in trouble or planning to escape, he said. Ingram can be seen depicting Pamphlet several afternoons a week as part of the Nation Builders Program. For more information visit www.history.org/visit/planYourVisit/revcity/days.cfm. or www.colonialwilliamsburg.com

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