Quest for freedom dramatized; Denease portrays slave's victory.

Byline: Susan Shalhoub

Martin Luther King Jr. is generally who we think of when we think of civil rights. Martin Luther King Day honors a man who fought for those rights in times of great upheaval and injustice. But there were other, lesser-known players in the battle for equality throughout history as well.

An event at Old Sturbridge Village illustrates the quest for freedom and fierce determination of one woman: Elizabeth "Mum Bett" Freeman. In 1781, at the age of 37, she hired a lawyer, took her case to court, and won her freedom from slavery.

Storyteller Tammy Denease of East Hartford, Conn., passes on Ms. Freeman's story - in character and in costume - in two interactive presentations at OSV's Dennison Building on Jan. 16.

Ms. Denease is back at OSV by popular demand.

"It's generally a full house," said Jim O'Brien, OSV's coordinator of special events. "She'll perform twice and she'll have packed houses both times, I'm sure."

Ms. Denease works to impart a sense of the strength of women throughout history, especially to young girls in her audience.

"Girl power started way back when!" she said.

Ms. Freeman was sold as a slave when she was 5 or 6 years old, to Col. John Ashley of Suffield, and then given as a wedding gift to his daughter Hannah. Ms. Freeman was illiterate. But as slaves were "invisible," according to Ms. Denease, Ms. Freeman was in the room waiting on Col. Ashley and others when the Sheffield Resolves document was drafted. She learned the phrase "All men are created equal," at that point, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Ms. Denease has a personal link to figures like Ms. Freeman.

A Mississippi native whose great-grandmother was enslaved and lived to the age of 125, she becomes Ms. Freeman in her presentations. She performs three to five shows a month at schools, libraries, senior centers and corporations. A history fanatic, she works to bring Ms. Freeman and other legendary African-American women to a modern audience in a unique, interactive way.

"I become that person," Ms. Denease said in an online interview clip. "I bring African-American women to life that are obscured throughout history - meaning, they were very prominent in our community...