Sadly the slave march I had hoped to make in June as part of Juneteenth activities at Catoctin Furnace was postponed. It was designed to symbolically replicate the 1843 journey slaves, then owned by John McPherson Brien, made to the Antietam Iron Works where they continued their forced labor. Here’s a blurb from the Catoctin Furnace Historical Society about the 1843 move.

1843 Journey from Catoctin to Antietam

“In 1843, following the sale of Catoctin Furnace, John McPherson Brien moved many of the enslaved ironworkers to Antietam Iron Works in Washington County, Maryland. While we cannot know the exact path of this 30 mile journey, we have carefully researched the roads that were extant at that time and produced a map that shows a likely route of travel.”