A statue is planned for the Berkshires depicting an 18th century Black woman who was once enslaved and who sued for her freedom and won.
Bett, later known as Mumbet and even later as Elizabeth Freeman, was enslaved in Sheffield, Massachusetts, in the mid 1700s.
The woman who enslaved Freeman hit her with a shovel from the fireplace. So Mumbet walked to the house of lawyer Theodore Sedgwick, whom she had previously overheard discussing equality, and asked for a lawsuit for her freedom.
State Rep. Smitty Pignatelli said Mumbet was a game-changer and that a statue is long overdue.
"Before Rosa Parks and before Sojourner Truth, there was Mumbet," Pignatelli said. "We need to celebrate her."
Pignatelli said the statue will be unveiled in Sheffield in August, but first he said at least $200,000 must be raised to pay for it.
Pignatelli also wants to establish a college scholarship named after Freeman.
