NJ Family Sending Clothing Of Former Slave To New National Museum Of African American History
COLLINGSWOOD, N.J. (CBS) -- Janet Galloway is D.C. bound. She has been invited to be in the company of President Barack Obama as he dedicates the brand new National Museum of African American History.
In 1977, Galloway, who lives in Collingswood, N.J., got a call to be at her grandmother's dying bedside back in her hometown of Macon, Georgia. "She was special," Galloway said. "She kissed me and she cried and she said I want you to go look in the hallway in the trunk, there is a secret compartment in there."
Inside, Galloway found three pieces of clothing; a skirt, a tunic and a shawl.
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"She said these were my mother's mother's grandmother's mother's mother's clothes that they had as slaves and I said woad! And she said, Bootsie, I want you to have them." Galloway recalled.
Her late son had an idea. About a decade ago, he put up pictures of the clothing online and got the attention of a Smithsonian curator, who authenticated the items and asked if they could display them in the new museum.
It turns out the clothing belonged to a family member, an early slave.
"All the clothing they had to make by hand. It's so beautiful," Galloway said.
Last weekend, she got an early look at the museum and her family's permanent clothing display. In that moment, she realized why her grandmother had chosen her to give them to. "I said this is freedom. This is why they save it. This is freedom. This is the resting place."