By Anna Guido
Enquirer contributor

SHARONVILLE - Whip in hand, a slave catcher berates slaves at the Cincinnati Runaway Slave drama at Heritage Village Museum.

7th grader Chandler Wright is made to hide his face and grasp the fence as punishment for his insolence by slave catcher John Riley (left, Ray Buelterman of White Oak) as he and fellow students from The Phoenix Community Learning Center in Bond Hill experienced the role of runaway slaves. (Glenn Hartong photo)

Some cower at his harsh words, but none of the student actors remove the scarves they were given, a sign that they are uncomfortable and want to step out of the drama.

The slave catcher, portrayed by Ray Buelterman, bursts into the church where the slaves posing as choir members receive directions on a simulated Underground Railroad escape in pre-Civil War Ohio.

Buelterman was looking for one slave in particular, portrayed by Gwen Gordon, who hides in the church. Buelterman finds Gordon and drags her outside. She screams and struggles. Buelterman takes her behind another building in the village. Students see him thrashing his whip. They hear Gordon cry and beg for mercy.

"If that was actually real, it would have been kind of tragic," said James Avant, 10, a fifth-grader from Otto Armleder Memorial Education Center in Over-the-Rhine.

"I was scared because I thought he was going to do that to everybody."

James' teacher, Kenya McCoy, said the portrayal gives children a chance to experience slavery rather than just read about it.

"It opens their eyes to what it's really like," she said. McCoy and other teachers stood back while their students participated in the drama, now in its third year.

During Black History Month nearly 1,200 students are scheduled to participate in the Runaway Slave drama.

"Our goal is to subject students to the complete humiliation and despair and dehumanization that the institution of slavery had upon individuals," said Bing Spitler, executive director of the museum in Sharon Woods.

Some students cry upon witnessing the realistic horrors that slaves and abolitionists experienced, Spitler said.

In reviewing the script, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center advised actors to "make it as tough as you can on students" because slaves had it tough.

Lonell Childred, who plays an abolitionist, said the drama touches viewers of all ages. His own mother cried the first time she watched it.

"You go away with an understanding of just how oppressive it was," he said.

More slave dramas

The Cincinnati Runaway Slave drama will be held weekend nights in May and November in Sharon Woods. The drama is held at Heritage Village Museum, a historic village with 11 restored buildings. For information, call (513) 563-9484 or go to www.heritagevillagecincinnati.org.

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