Avenue Q asked the question, “What Do You Do With A B.A. In English?”
Historian Anthony Cohen asks the audience a similar question, “What do you do with a history degree?” In his one-man Fringe show, Patrick and Me, he attempts to answer the question. Lost and unsure of what he should do after college, Cohen went on a cross-country journey to not only uncover a hidden part of history, but to perhaps uncover his own identity in the process.
Unfortunately, we are left as lost as he is in this “monologue.” Cohen doesn’t have the drama and the passion of a Mike Daisey; in the end Cohen is an academic and his show feels like an hour plus long lecture – complete with PowerPoint slides.
While it sounds like the Friday morning class you would skip back in college, there’s actually a compelling story that hints at something amazing.
A graduate of American University, Cohen worked on telling the story of the Underground Railroad in Montgomery County. He went on two treks where he walked various routes of the railroad across the country. His work made him an expert in the history of slavery and he went on to consult various organizations and individuals including Oprah Winfrey.
Cohen, an African American with Jewish ancestors, stumbled upon the story of Patrick Sneed, a slave ancestor. Sneed escaped from slavery in 1849 and would go on to fight in the Civil War. What makes Sneed’s tale particularly interesting are the accounts that described Sneed as a white man with only “a little drop of Negro blood in him.” Cohen related to Sneed’s non-traditional background and worked to find out as much as he could about his long lost ancestor.
The basis of a really interesting story right? However, it doesn’t matter how great the story is if it’s not presented right. Patrick and Me needs a major retooling that focuses on the central theme that’s most compelling: finding out who is Patrick Sneed AND who is Anthony Cohen.
Right now, Cohen is working on a third journey across the country for a documentary that will share the same name. Perhaps through film we can better feel the true impact of this fascinating piece of history.
Patrick & Me has 1 more performance in the Goethe Institut, 812 7th Street NW, Washington, DC.
Tickets
Patrick rates this a 2 out of a possible 5.
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“The basis of a really interesting story right? However, it doesn’t matter how great the story is if it’s not presented right. Patrick and Me needs a major retooling that focuses on the central theme that’s most compelling: finding out who is Patrick Sneed AND who is Anthony Cohen.” by Patrick Pho, July 2011
I could not have written, or said the words above that I’ve cited, better than Patrick Pho. I first heard of Anthony Cohen from my sister in Silver Spring, MD yesterday. She left a message on my voice-mail inviting me to a presentation by Anthony Cohen at Leisure World on Dec 4, 2011, and said that I knew him. I just completed a manuscript: Cohen of Georgetown, SC 1760-1960: A Family History of Low Country Secret Jews and Descendants, and currently concluding a One-Name Study of the Cohen surname amongst enslaved Africans and their descendants in Georgetown County, and Sea Islands of South Carolina; she assumed because of his last name that we meet him last summer at the Turner Symposium, in Annapolis. But she was mistaken, that person’s name was Joseph Cohen, his family hails from John’s Island, Charleston, SC
I’ve Googled the name Anthony Cohen today, and found a brief Biography; his father is Charles F. Cohen, and mother Joan E. Foster. He says his ancestor Patrick Sneed escaped slavery in 1849, was a Civil War Vet, and fled to Canada. It is a compelling story, and I also would like to know more. I ‘m currently teaching a Genealogy course for M-NCPPC at the Laurel Beltsville Senior Center, and would love to assist in exploring his family history, the historical era his ancestors lived in, and write a Biographical Sketch of Patrick Sneed.
Sadie Pasha,
[email protected]
Genealogist and Low Country Family Historian