Top Left: After reading a biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Everett knew exactly how he wanted to portray the Civil Rights leader—with hands folded in prayer.

Top Right: As Astronaut and Scientist Mae Jemison, Diamond (age 12) illustrated how high you can go when you pursue a dream and a strong education.

Bottom Right: Shhh... Can you keep a secret? So began seven-year-old McKenzie's portrayal of Mary Elizabeth Bowser, a freed slave-turned-spy in the Confederate White House.

"Blacks in Wax" Event
Brings History to Life

On a beautiful evening in February, more than 70 young tennis scholars portrayed historic and present-day African Americans in the Center’s 2009 Black History Month event. Modeled after the Blacks in Wax Museum in Baltimore, MD, the evening chronicled African American history, From Chains to Change.

The event featured “statues” that came to life at the press of a lighted button, as well as a stage production that played to four standing-room-only audiences. Many of those portrayed were well-known figures—from Harriett Tubman and Frederick Douglass to Rosa Parks, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Barack Obama. But others were less familiar to the tennis scholars—at least initially.

Learning and Loving It

The Blacks in Wax event, From Chains to Change, was the culmination of months of preparation, beginning with each student researching four African Americans before selecting an individual to depict. They then dug deeper into the lives and times to be portrayed—including the way their historic figure looked and dressed, to ensure an accurate portrayal—helped with the script, and practiced until they were able to give flawless performances in front of hundreds of peers, parents and educators.

In the days and weeks leading up to the event, students challenged each other to give on-the-spot, command performances of their characters. By the time the “museum” doors opened to the public, all of the students—and staff—could cite the accomplishments and contributions of past and present African Americans, from 1920s Aviator Bessie Coleman to Astronaut Mae Jemison; from Pony Express Rider Nat “Deadwood Dick” Love to Jazz great Wynton Marsalis.

“I learned a whole lot about Mary Elizabeth Bowser, and other people,” says seven-year-old McKenzie (right). “She was a spy in the Confederate White House. Jefferson Davis thought she couldn’t read or write, so he left important papers around. Then a spy goes sneaking up on them!” She added, “I had fun learning about Black history.”