One-woman show brings Mumbet’s fight for freedom to Scoville Library

On March 29, writer, producer and director Tammy Denease will embody the life and story of Elizabeth Freeman, widely known as Mumbet, in two performances at the Scoville Library in Salisbury. Presented by Scoville Library and the Salisbury Association Historical Society, the performance is part of Salisbury READS, a community-wide engagement with literature and civic dialogue.

Mumbet was the first enslaved woman in Massachusetts to sue successfully for her freedom in 1781. Her victory helped lay the legal groundwork for the abolition of slavery in the state just two years later. In bringing Mumbet’s story to life, Denease does more than reenact history.

“I have been performing Mumbet for over 15 years now,” she said. What continues to resonate is “her self-awareness and self-worth even though she was enslaved. Her legacy of self-care and the ability to take care of others. That has not changed over time.”

Denease’s one-woman performance, “One Minute a Free Woman,” is part of her “Hidden Women” series, which centers figures too often pushed to the margins of historical memory. Drawing upon her own lineage and storytelling traditions passed down from her great-grandmother, a formerly enslaved woman, Denease creates work that bridges personal inheritance and collective history. Her background as a museum educator and interpretive guide shapes this approach.

“Being an interpretive educator helps me put the humanity back into history that has been removed when telling the stories,” she said.

The 2 p.m. program welcomes school-age audiences and families, while a 4 p.m. performance invites adults into a deeper and more intense exploration of Mumbet’s life.

“The format of the show will only change in the way I deliver the story,” Denease explained. “It will be more intense and in detail for the adults, less intense for the kids. However, it will not be watered down.”

For young people, Denease hopes the performance ignites curiosity and critical thought. “I hope school-age audiences’ imaginations are activated to want to know more and to never stop asking questions.” Adults, she said, are invited into a deeper investigation. “I hope for my adult audience that they will question what they were taught and see history through a different lens.”

That spirit of inquiry lies at the heart of Salisbury READS. “Literature and live performances go hand in hand,” Denease said. “Reading activates the imagination; living history helps that activated mind to make historical connections and keep the humanity and dignity in place where it was never given or taken away.”

Ultimately, the performance asks audiences to treat history not as distant fact but as shared responsibility. “I hope the audience will continue to question why knowing accurate and complete history is so important,” Denease said. “To understand that not knowing the whole story hurts everyone.”

To register for the event, visit scovillelibrary.org