School district apologizes after photo of a black girl dressed as toddler for Pilgrim history class is mistaken for SLAVERY recreation online

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A Massachusetts school district has apologized after a photograph of a visit by a Pilgrim reenactor to one of its elementary schools was mistaken for a slavery recreation.

The photo, taken at Mitchell Elementary School in Bridgewater, shows a young black girl on her knees in front of a pair of white children, who hold strings connected to the dress on her back. A white Pilgrim actress stands behind them.

Thousands shared the photo after it was posted on Facebook on Thursday morning, alongside a demand that the 'Pilgrim' educator be fired.

That afternoon, Derek J Swenson, superintendent of schools for the Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District, said that the black girl had volunteered to pretend to be a toddler, not a slave, and apologized.

But that didn't satisfy many who saw the image. 

This photograph, taken Friday at Mitchell Elementary School in Massachusetts, caused anger online after it was mistaken for a slavery recreation. It was actually supposed to represent a Pilgrim family; the black girl, who is laughing, volunteered to play a toddler

As this detail from a 1658 painting shows, children would often have 'leading strings' on their clothes when learning to walk. In the photo they were mistaken for a slave's leash

The photo was shared online by gun control advocate Monica Cannon-Grant, who told followers to demand that the woman be fired 

In his statement, Swenson said that Friday's lesson featured a visit from local 'living history museum' Plimoth Plantation.

The educator, dressed as a Pilgrim, demonstrated clothing worn by people in the 17th century - particularly the tethering straps or leading strings worn by toddlers.

Those were cloth leads connected to the back of toddlers' clothes, used to keep them upright while they were learning to walk, he said. The black girl had been roleplaying the part of a toddler, not a slave. 

'We realize without this context added to the photo that was shared by the classroom teacher it could be perceived differently,' he said.

'Please note it was never the intent of the lesson to demean or degrade any one person or group.

'The Bridgewater-Raynham Regional School District sincerely apologizes to the students, staff and community at large for this unfortunate incident.'

Many of Cannon-Grant's followers were furious at the sight. Few questioned what was being portrayed in the photo. On Wednesday evening, district superintendent apologized

He said the 'Pilgrim' was from a 'living history center' called Plimoth Plantation. Its website has this photo of a white girl in similar straps. The superintendent apologized for offense caused

That statement came hours after Monica Cannon-Grant, a Boston-based gun control advocate, posted the photograph online.

She also posted the contact details of Mitchell Elementary School and its principal, Heidi Letendre, saying 'Ask her why this is okay?? Demand that this Teacher is fired!'

The public post quickly accrued thousands of comments from furious Facebook users, and more than 10,000 shares as people commented on what they believed to be a recreation of slavery.

Almarie Carter commented: 'She needs to take her stupid a** to work at a ZOO. She should NEVER be trusted to EDUCATE OUR CHILDREN. FIRE HER A**.'

Alexis Thompson wrote: 'STOP ASKING FOR CLARIFICATION AND MORE OF A DESCRIPTION!! You can't f**king explain away this ignorance and insensitivity. So just stop asking for more info.'

However, some users familiar with the plantation posted screenshots of a 2014 story from the Boothbay Register, showing the same woman with other children - this time with a white girl playing the toddler.

A 2014 photo shows a Plimoth reenactor - possibly the same woman - demonstrating a similar dress on a white girl at a different school

That story identifies the woman as Vicki Oman, a 'Living History presenter' from the Plimoth Plantation. A spokesman from Plimoth Plantation confirmed that Oman was the educator in both photos.

A link on the plantation's site titled 'Invite a Pilgrim to Your Classroom' also shows a woman in Pilgrim dress holding leading strings attached to a white child.

Cannon-Grant has been contacted for comment.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, Rob Kluin, director of marketing and communications at the Plimoth Plantation said: 'As shown in the image, the infant is wearing a gown which is commonly known as leading strings. 

'In 17th-century Europe this was a common clothing item, which was used to help keep toddlers safe while they were learning to walk.

'This educational content is something that is presented in many of Plimoth Plantation's classroom visits. We apologize for any misperceptions that this may have caused. It was never this Museum's intent to treat any one person or group with disrespect.'

Three hours after her initial post, Monica Cannon-Grant posted a screengrab purporting to be from the mother whose daughter was playing the toddler in the photo.

'My daughter said they asked for someone to volunteer as a baby and she did. 

'And it was the Pilgrim lady's idea for her to kneel on the floor and the others to hold the leash. 

Cannon-Grant did not modify her original post calling for the 'teacher' to be fired until three hours later. It was either deleted or put on restricted access after she was contacted for comment by DailyMail.com

Many of Cannon-Grant's commenters were not mollified.

Even after Cannon-Grant posted an explanation, her commenters said it was no excuse. Cannon-Grant deleted her initial post six hours after it was first put up on Facebook

Bella Gutierrez said: 'This is not justifiable in no way shape or form. People are becoming outraged and others are not understanding why but you dont need to understand why just to know that it was wrong.'

Detroit Green Bunch posted: 'This is still WRONG! You don't put a leash around any child, let alone a black child in a predominantly white class! 

'This white ignorance is getting old. That poor child has no one to protect her from this willful ignorance.'

One user, Rebeca Hidalgo, complained after Cannon-Grant deleted the remarks, saying: 'I know that you'll probably block me for exposing the truth, but I am tired of FB drama. 

'If there had been no background to the picture I would've supported you fully, because I truly was outraged when I first saw the picture.

'But after taking my time to investigate and find out THE TRUTH I saw that it was not how you told it and I had to see the picture with a different mindset now that I had all the information behind it.'

Cannon-Grant replied: 'Who told you this was your space? You mean white truth because the truth is the little girl has f****** leashes around her arm I don't give a f*** about what part of History you want to attach it to that's not our f****** history get the f*** off my page.'

Hidalgo's comments were then deleted. 

One web-user complained on Cannon-Grant's Facebook past that she was 'outraged' when she saw the picture, but that the truth was different. Cannon-Grant was not pleased by the remark