History Interpretation Methods

Harvey Bakari delivered multi-media African American history presentations in a museum auditorium in the third person. He answered questions from the audience ranging from the Atlantic Slave Trade, hereditary chattel slavery, the American Revolution, and its parallels to the modern age.

In historic building tours, walking history tours, military reenactments, and other historical programs, third person interpretation is widely used. Harvey Bakari oversaw a military reenactment of the nearly all-Black First Rhode Island Regiment. It was made up of free Black men and slaves whose freedom had been bought by the state in exchange for their service in the war. Prior to their arrival at the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, where the British surrendered to General Washington's Continental Army, the regiment was integrated.

For audiences, first-person historical interpretation delivers an immersive experience. Moses, a Black Baptist preacher, was researched and performed by Harvey Bakari. By preaching without a license, both Black and White dissenting preachers challenged the authority of the Church of England. The actions of colonial authorities show that Moses' version of the gospel posed a threat. As a result, Moses was lashed and imprisoned three times for preaching.

The Equiano Forum on Early African American History and Culture was organized, administered, and presented by Harvey Bakari. Guest speakers included, Douglas Wilder, former Virginia Governor and the first elected African American Governor in the United States; Orlando Patterson, historical and cultural sociologist at Harvard University and author of Slavery and Social Death; Douglas Blackman, journalist and author of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the End of the Civil War to World War II; A'Lelia Bundles, author, journalist, and activist; and many other scholars, authors, and performers.

For 11 years, Harvey Bakari worked as a historic actor on a museum stage. He played Old Paris, an African who related his experiences of culture, captivity, the Middle Passage, and bondage in Virginia. Harvey Bakari wrote, produced, and directed an ensemble of adult and youth performers in Remember Me, When Freedom Comes, based on historical and archeological research.