Peirce Mill updates: Exploring Peirce family ties to the enslaved in the “William Beckett Project”; the first Grain Fair; December activities

A photo of William Bennett, from a 1902 magazine profile.

When Friends of Peirce Mill launched its “Mill Stories” blog in February 2023, its first story was about the remarkable William Beckett, an enslaved man who managed Joshua Peirce’s commercial nursery, located south of the mill, before and after Emancipation.

Since that blog post was published, a new line has been added: “Newly discovered evidence suggests that Beckett was also Peirce’s son.”

The latest Mill Stories post goes into more detail about that new evidence: a 1902 profile of Beckett in The Colored American Magazine. Friends of Peirce Mill has also announced the launch of the William Beckett Project. The group, with support from Humanities DC, is working with a historian and Howard University PhD candidate to learn more about Beckett’s life, and it’s planning a commemorative event with the Rock Creek NPS in April 2024, sometime around DC Emancipation Day.

Past, present and future

Part of the setup for the October 22nd Mid-Atlantic Grain Fair. (photo by Friends of Peirce Mill’s Bill Mills)

On October 22nd, Friends of Peirce Mill and the Common Grain Alliance welcomed about 2,000 visitors to the first annual Mid-Atlantic Grain Fair, held in conjunction with the first Mid-Atlantic Grain Conference at UDC. The grain fair was grounded in the past and the present, with milling and cooking demonstrations among the activities. The conference was about the regional grain industry now and in the future, with sessions by and for farmers, millers, bakers, brewers and more.

Hands-on fun

Peirce Mill is located at 2401 Tilden Street NW. It’s open two Saturdays in December – the 2nd and 16th – from noon to 4 p.m. And during those hours on the 16th, Friends of Peirce Mill is hosting a candle-making and silhouette portraits workshop.