Histories of Art, Race and Empire: 1492-1865

Rationale

The History of Mary Prince is a part of the Richmond Public Schools 12^th grade English curriculum.  Richmond was one of the largest slave ports in North America.  Both Nat Turner’s and John Brown’s slave rebellions, and well as many bloody Civil War battles, occurred in this area. Students have thus been exposed to the history of the slave trade on a local level often at the expense of understanding slavery and the abolitionist movement in a global context.  I feel that students also consider slavery as an abstract concept. They fail grasp the severity of the inhumane and immoral nature of the institution of trans-Atlantic slavery.  The reading of The History of Mary Prince will hopefully give the students a more personalized connection to the horrors of slavery and instill in them an understanding of the importance of learning about this history.  It will be a reminder about the power of kindness and the need to be vigilant in the face of social division and inequality.  The inclusion of works of art from this period that capture the historical situation of The History of Mary Prince will be important to help students hone their visualization skills, expand their academic horizons (our school does not offer Advanced Placement Art History), and engage in higher level writing.  It will also increase student enjoyment both in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom.  Richmond is home to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) which houses a world-class collection of art.  I want this unit to empower my students to go to this or any museum knowing they are entitled to engage with, analyze, and thusly enjoy the art on display without feeling self-conscious. 

Including Diverse Voices

The educational systems in America have a long history of not sufficiently including diverse perspectives in the curriculum.  The History of Mary Prince is the narrative of woman who was enslaved for the majority of her life.  It is the first narrative of a Black woman to be published in England.  Her narrative was told to and recorded by a woman who was a member of the Anti-Slavery Society in England.  It was used by abolitionist groups in England as a tool to sway public opinion against slavery and was monumental as a voice of a woman of African descent in the world dominated by European men.

A major component to be incorporated in this unit is the use of art work from the 18^th and 19^th centuries, amplifying the central voice, that of a resilient woman of African descent.  It includes works of art that are created by or depict men and women of African descent. This further provides a variety of perspectives that reflect the wide range of contributions they have made to our history.  I will be using this as tool to generate classroom discussion relevant to the narrative told by Mary Prince.  Many of our students consider art, especially works of art that hang in a museum, to be something that exists exclusively for people in higher income tax brackets. This attitude is not unjustified when one considers the Eurocentric works of art that have traditionally dominated art education and pop culture.  Exposing students to artwork that represents the rich history, cultural legacy, and contributions made by people of color and other marginalized groups will provide them the opportunity to understand that there is a place for them in the artworld.  It will also give them the confidence to analyse art and to contemplate what the artist is trying to communicate to the viewer. This mirrors what we want our students to do when the read literature and poetry. We want students to have confidence when they read in order to interact with the text, to make conjectures, to consider the historical context, and to make judgements about what they like and don’t like.

Art from the 20^th and 21^st centuries.

Learning increases when people are able to make a connection to something on a personal level. There is an opportunity to connect teaching The History of Mary Prince to events that occurred and were witnessed in real time by many of the students in Richmond Public Schools.  There was a powerful confluence of art, race, and history which recently occurred on the streets of Richmond.  In September of 2021, a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was removed from the historic Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia. It was erected in 1890 and was long considered an artistic mainstay of Richmond promoted by the city as a tourist destination. ² Its removal, and the removal of other statues of “heroes” of the Confederacy was accelerated by the general social upheaval that swept parts of America in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney stated, "Richmond is no longer the capital of the Confederacy. We are a diverse, open and welcoming city, and our symbols need to reflect that reality.”³

As a powerful event that occurred in the city where my students live, in recent memory, it is something many of them will retain as flashbulb memories for their lifetimes.  This presents an opportunity to use these events which are so clearly embedded in the minds of many of the young people of Richmond. It will be a foundation to understanding and analyzing the artwork of the trans-Atlantic world to help to create a greater comprehension of The History of Mary Prince.  Students will become confident in their respective abilities to voice their opinions about the art they view as well as to write about how they interpret art, literature, or poetry.  They will develop a sense of empowerment to help them overcome the academic anxiety that can lead to feeling intimidated that is often associated with being required to complete a task for which one has no connection. 

Analyzing art can be a daunting task.  My students have lived through a significant change in perspective, transforming perceptions of the works of art which have been a long-standing part of Richmond’s history.  They have seen empowerment of the people (many of them school aged) who openly protested the continued presence the Confederate statues being used to send an obvious message about racial hierarchies in the South. In this unit, the students will analyze the social and political messages sent by the presence of the statues, the glorification of an era in which the enslavement of Africans was not only acceptable, but worthy of fighting a war to protect. The students will be encouraged to comment on the politics of the monuments. The discussion will be enhanced by the reference to the recent works of contemporary art that reflects the events of 2021.