Dinner with Charlotte Scott, the Freed Woman Who Wanted to Honor Lincoln

Marcia Cole will be featured at the Lincoln Group of DC's September 12, dinner meeting at Maggiano's, in character as Charlotte Scott, the formerly enslaved woman who initiated the fundraising for what is now the Emancipation Memorial in Lincoln Park, Washington, DC. This is a role that Marcia has been playing for many years. Her most recent appearance was part of the historical plaque dedication ceremony in Marietta, Ohio, Charlotte's home, on June 17, 2023.

Charlotte was born enslaved on the Scott Plantation near Lynchburg, Virginia. At birth she was the property of Thomas Scott but at the outset of the Civil War, Charlotte resided with Thomas Scott’s daughter, Margaret Scott Rucker, and her husband, Dr. William Parks Rucker, in Covington, Virginia. Although a slave-owner, Dr. Rucker was an outspoken supporter of the Union and President Lincoln, and openly collaborated with Federal army officers and scouts. In 1862, Dr. Rucker…