The Talbot Historical Society in cooperation with the descendants of Nathaniel “Uncle Nace” Hopkins invite you to join us in the living history performance celebrating this incredible history and the man who started it all.
Uncle Nace: The Day Freedom Came is a powerful one-man performance blending storytelling, music, and the voice of a man who transformed suffering into legacy. Born enslaved on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, Nathaniel “Uncle Nace” Hopkins carried the scars of bondage but refused to let them define him. During the Civil War Nace enlisted with the United States Colored Troops, fighting for a freedom he had yet to taste for himself. Sent home sick and weary, he returned to Trappe determined to build a new life as a free man not just for himself, but for his entire community. Uncle Nace set to work building a Church, free black schools, roads and black communities here in Talbot County and is responsible for the creation of Maryland’s first Emancipation Day Celebration in 1867 – one of our nation’s very first and the oldest that has been continuously celebrated.

As the first parades marched through the dusty streets of Trappe, Uncle Nace became more than a soldier—he became a leader, teacher, and living reminder that freedom must be celebrated, protected, and passed on.