In a Journey to Trace Family History and Film a New Documentary
Anthony Cohen, president of the Menare Foundation—an educational organization, based in Germantown, MD, focused on the preservation of Underground Railroad history—is embarking on a journey to explore his family’s history and commemorate the 150th anniversary of Sherman’s March to the Sea. From November 15-30, Cohen will be following the route of Sherman’s March, from Atlanta to Savannah, GA, as he traces the footsteps of his great-great grand uncle, Patrick Sneed, a member of the Union Army cavalry, who had fled from slavery in Savannah, GA, to freedom in Canada in 1849. Foot, boat, rail, horseback and other 19th-century conveyances will all be used as Cohen makes the 300 mile-long journey, stopping along the way in key communities that figure into his family story.
While traveling, Cohen’s experiences along the Sherman’s March route will be recorded by a film crew and featured in the upcoming documentary, “Patrick and Me”, which will chronicle Cohen’s search for his slavery-era ancestor. The film will be funded by a crowdfunding campaign, which will launch one day prior to the beginning of the March on November 14th. Supporters of the project will also be able to follow Cohen’s progress through a variety of social media outlets, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumbler and YouTube, and the project’s website, www.shermansmarch2014.com.
Anthony Cohen is not new to long-distance treks tracing the stories of history. In 1996, Cohen embarked on a two-month-long journey to explore a tragically overlooked part of American history, the Underground Railroad, the secret network, which thousands of slaves traveled to attain their freedom. Cohen began his trek in Sandy Spring, MD, traveling a distance of 1,200 miles by foot, boat and rail to his final destination in
Amherstburg, Ontario. Cohen traced the steps of runaways along wilderness trails and waterways to fugitive slave communities and Quaker sanctuaries. Following the success of his walk, Cohen embarked on another in 1998, traveling for three months from Mobile, Alabama to Windsor, Ontario. Cohen’s documentary, “Patrick & Me”, is scheduled for release nationwide in 2016.
