Uncovering the History of the People of Color who Built and Build America
One of the works that has been going on in the background is an article I have written about chairmaker Richard “Dick” Poynor for Issue Eleven of Mortise and Tenon Magazine, a national publication that celebrates the preservation, research, and recreation of historic furniture. Continue reading “A Preview of My Work on Richard “Dick” Poynor”
It has been a minute since I have updated the site, but the work has not stopped.
Since my last post, I have received my Master’s, moved to a new city, started a new job, and have fallen in love. And, perhaps of most interest to you, I have been working a lot behind the scenes on a few different projects. Continue reading “What’s in the Works”
I am posting a project I completed based on my study of the enslaved peoples’ homes at Evergreen and Stagville plantations. As you will see, there is linked at the beginning an exhibit hosted Omeka, so that you can see photographs of primary evidence to bolster the written component below. As always, let me know your thoughts and let’s have a discussion! Continue reading “Enslaved Peoples’ Homes at Evergreen and Stagville Plantations”
So I spent the night inside an original slave dwelling at the Hermitage. Continue reading “New Place, New Questions”
If there is one thing I have learned from the Black Church, and there are many, it is the need to “make it plain.” Continue reading “An Email: Framing Commentary”
On February 21, I received an email from someone through the contact form on the website. I paste it below, exactly as it came to my inbox, without any identifiers regarding who sent it. Continue reading “An Email”
Henry was one of the two listed carpenters at The Hermitage. While it may forever be incomplete, his story is a fascinating one, and like Ned Davis, the other carpenter from Andrew Jackson’s plantation, Henry gives us an insight into the human side of the system of enslavement. Continue reading “Henry”
Ned Davis was one of the two carpenters at Andrew Jackson’s plantation, The Hermitage. Although we do not know a ton about him, as is the case with Henry, the other carpenter, his story, like the story of each enslaved person who lived in this country, deserves to be told. Continue reading “Ned Davis”
America has long ignored the incalculable contributions of people of color, specifically Africans brought to this continent. So often our history books downplay the institution of enslavement and portray the enslaved people as simple-minded field hands, cogs in a machine who helped their masters put some food on the table. This version of history serves to maintain white people as dominant and benevolent actors who saved Africans and other people of color from themselves: their beliefs, their histories, and their own families. In so doing, Africans go from actor to acted-upon by white people, not having any type of history or personality from which to draw a more truthful narrative. While the people who were enslaved certainly were acted upon, given the very nature of their enslavement, the idea that they were not actors who resisted and shaped their own history could not be further from the truth. Continue reading “A Primer”
