Day of Tears

On March 2nd and 3rd 1852, in Savannah, Georgia, the largest slave auction in the United States took place. Four hundred plus slaves paraded as chattel to the auctioneer’s block. The slaves referred to these times as, “The Weeping Time,” for the skies opened, poured forth, and when the last slave was sold, miraculously, the sky returned to its former shade of blush.

This event is brought to life from excerpts of the multi-award-winning Day of Tears by Julius Lester, told from the voices of those sold on the auction block, the slave master, the slave seller, the innocent children, husbands, wives, and lovers who clung to one last desperate hope of staying together. The slaves were the property of Master Pierce Butler, the husband of the British actress Fanny Kemble, fierce abolitionist, and author of the journal, Residence on a Georgian Plantation. Pierce Butler lost most of his wealth at the card table, forcing him to sell his portion of slaves (four hundred plus men, women, and children), inherited from his father, Ransome Butler. Broeck Racetrack in Savannah was the only place large enough for this historical event. Slaves were herded into stalls supplanting the racehorses.

Day of Tears is a powerful, very personal and highly emotional dramatization that leaves an indelible impression on the audience.