As an American studies major at American University in 1994, Tony Cohen’s senior project documented the trails and houses used by the Underground Railroad in 1850s Montgomery County. In 1999, he founded the Menare Foundation, which offers slavery-immersion experiences. The Menare Foundation will hold an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Nov. 17. For more information, call 301-379-8898.
How did your senior year project become your life’s work?
The Montgomery County Historical Society published my senior paper as a booklet, which led to speaking engagements about the Underground Railroad around the country. In 1996, I decided to retrace on foot one of the escape routes from Montgomery County to Canada. Oprah Winfrey then had me on her show. She planned to portray a slave in the film “Beloved,” … I created a 48-hour immersion experience for her, and afterward, she told me I needed to offer it to other people.
So this is what the Menare Foundation does?
We have an old farm on 60 acres in Seneca State Park in Germantown. Our goal is to provide a transformational environment, recreating the authentic experience of slavery in Maryland in the 1850s.
What is the typical immersion experience like?
Participants step into the past, wear slave clothing, eat the food slaves would have eaten, and perform typical slave work on the farm. Participants decide whether to attempt to escape or not, and are surrounded by historical interpreters, some who will help them escape and some who wish to keep them in slavery.
What do you think about the Smithsonian’s plan for a National Museum of African American History and Culture?
The experience of Africans in America has been full splay, from slavery to people of African descent running as viable candidates for president. A site like this will give people a deeper sense of our history; it’s also somewhat healing for Americans to acknowledge where we’ve been
