Africa-Press – Liberia. Liberian Ambassador George S.W. Patten Sr., in Winston-Salem on Saturday, praised the historic ties between the city’s Happy Hill neighborhood and his country of Liberia.
Patten, Liberia’s ambassador to the United States, Canada and Mexico, then urged Winston-Salem residents to visit his country, where a group of local enslaved people emigrated 185 years ago.
Patten was among 10 speakers Saturday at the Second Annual celebration of the Salem and Liberia, Africa, historical marker at the corner of Liberia and Free streets. The marker is in Winston-Salem’s oldest African American neighborhood. About 60 people attended.
The Happy Hill neighborhood “has a rich history that I even didn’t know,” Patten said. “Folks from here in 1836 left these shores and went to Liberia. This is history. This is family.”
In 2022, Liberia will celebrate its 200th anniversary, Patten said. The American Colonization Society organized the emigration of free Blacks from the United States who traveled to West Africa, where the country of Liberia was established, Patten said.
The first free Blacks from the U.S. arrived in 1822. “Many died on their way at sea, but still many landed on the shores of what we call Liberia,” Patten said. Next year, Liberians will celebrate their country’s history and their friendship with the United States, Patten said.
