The Biography of Philip Reid: Historical Fiction

Slaves made up half of the workforce that built the U.S. Capitol. The most famous of these was Philip Reid, who supervised the bronze casting of the Statue of Freedom atop the Capitol’s dome.. The story of Philip Reid begins with his African heritage, steeped in the Yoruba culture of sculpture and metal casting. Philip’s life as a slave in America is covered in his birth and rearing in Charleston, and his purchase by Clark Mills, the Washington foundry owner who had the contract to cast the Statue of Freedom. This is the story of how Philip, a slave, came to supervise the bronze casting of The Statue of Freedom while enduring the disappointments of American slavery. Philip Reid’s enslavement is ended by the Washington, D.C. Emancipation Proclamation. He becomes a respected member of Washington’s Free Black society, establishes his own business and marries an educated Free Black on the very same day that the Statue of Freedom was raised to the Capitol dome.