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- 1940 (x)
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- Grinnell, Josiah Bushnell, 1821-1891 (x)
- 1859 (x)
- Slave Trade (x)
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Title
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Portrait
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Description
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This piece aims to honor the service of black and Haitian military men. When considering the Haitian Revolution we often tell the stories of men such as Toussaint L'Ouverture, one of too few symbols of black military power. This block places a black military leader at the center of attention, and also aims to connect his story with slavery in Haiti, America, and beyond. In this block, the image of the Haitian militia man appears beside an illustration of a cotton plant. Although slavery in Haiti was fueled by sugarcane, not cotton, an image of a cotton plant is placed here to remind the viewer that slavery is and shall remain a hallmark of American history, and issues of injustice in the military still occur today. When we consider the history of the transatlantic slave trade, we do not often think of its impact on how black people are treated in the military. Erased from history and celebration, black bodies were catalogued as equipment much like weapons and protective wear. While great progress has been made since the abolition of slavery and the integration of the military, we still have a long way to go in our quest for equal treatment of people of color as well as gay and transgender people in the military.
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Date Created
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2017
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PID
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grinnell:25490
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Title
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Veneer
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Description
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At the center of this block is a photograph of Haitian slaves harvesting sugar cane before the revolution. Look closely at the image and focus on the people’s faces. How is this photograph different from other images of plantation slavery? Look closer and you may realize that the photograph is placed on top of another image, covering everything but the outer edges. The pictures we see and the stories we tell may not reveal the entire truth, and some narratives of the past mask another’s reality. Perhaps history should not be viewed as a timeline, with one image placed next to another, but should look more like an overused scrapbook; you must peel one image away to reveal another.
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Date Created
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2017
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PID
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grinnell:25497
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Title
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Windows
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Description
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This block depicts four distinct scenes, yet they are part of the same world. Placid scenes of rural and urban Iowa, set side by side alongside depictions of white Iowans in the process of buying and selling African people. This goal of this block is to challenge the illusion of innocence that has colored our reality of slave auctions and all other dehumanizing and violent aspects of the slave trade. The juxtaposed images of Iowan rural life and images of the Iowan slave trade evokes tension and conflict under an apparent calm. In what ways are we complicit in this calm, and in what ways can we challenge it?
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Date Created
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2017
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PID
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grinnell:25496