Unit content
The goal of my instruction is for this unit is to increase student confidence and enjoyment when viewing works of art. I want them to make personal connections to what they are going to learn, to improve their reading comprehension and writing skills related to their reading of The History of Mary Prince. My goal is for students to also gain a greater appreciation for the courage of enslaved people in the newly formed America and Caribbean parts of the British Empire in the 16th through the early part of the 19th centuries.
The major focus of the content selections described below are the interactions between art, race and history. The use of visual stimulation (viewing a visual media) and analyzing that visual representation in terms of historical context should be used to enrich the students’ experience with literature, in this case The History of Mary Prince, A Slave Narrative and extending the comprehension of that literature through the writing process.
The works of Ty Hilton
The following work captures the populist energy and anger of the demonstration against the statues of Confederate generals discussed in the previous section. This untitled work shows an uncanny acumen and raw emotion. It is being used with the permission of the artist who I had the pleasure to interview. I was inspired to contact him after seeing his work hanging outside Virginia Union University. He leaves no ambiguity in his purpose for documenting the removal of these statues. “Black lives matter. These statues don’t.”4
Figure 1
(Ty Hilton, Untitled, 2021, jpeg photograph)
It is unorthodox to include the work of such a young artist in a curricular unit like this. The artist’s capturing of this moment with personal, youthful insight is the reason this will be utilized as the foundation for tying my students’ history to the story. When asked what reaction he wants to generate from these works, Mr. Hilton responded, “When people see these photographs, I want people to feel many emotions. Anger, sadness, but also happiness. For too long people of Richmond were forced to see these statues we hated. In the protest over police brutality, we rose up. We took control of the situation.”5 Analyzing the work of Mr. Hilton will serve as a bridge to the introduction of art discussion and analysis of work that will lead to the analysis of the works of the 18th-19th century. Mr. Hilton has expressed a willingness to come into the classrooms and work directly with the students of Richmond Public Schools.
Direct comparison of two statues in Richmond
Building upon the work of Ty Hilton will be a direct comparison of two statues that symbolize two very disparate perspectives of the confluence of art, race, and history in Richmond, Virginia. The two works to be compared are Rumors of War by Kehinde Wiley (For the image visit https://vmfa.museum/calendar/events/aari-2020/rumors-of-war-3/)6 and J.E.B. Stuart by Fred Moynihan (For image visit https://rotj.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/j-e-b-stuart-on-monument-avenue/)
The remarkable arc of Kehinde Wiley who was born, poor, black, and gay in south-central Los Angeles to becoming one of the most important voice in the artworld today can serve as an inspiration to young people everywhere.7 Emphasizing this is important in order to counteract the “art is for rich white people” stereotype that is so ingrained in our culture. Wiley’s artistic talent put him in the history books as the first African-American artist to paint an official portrait of a United States President when he painted President Barak Obama and resulted in his being named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2018.8
Wiley’s work that is included in this unit is Rumors of War. He presents an African-American male teenager in control of the horse seemingly preparing for some sort of combat engagement. This work stands outside the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in very close proximity to where the Confederate statues that stood for a century were removed. The students will first view the confederate statue of J.E.B. Stuart (which Wiley admits Rumors of War was meant to challenge9) and then Rumors of War in order to use that comparison to discern Wiley’s intent which was a message of inclusivity. The fact that Rumors of War is outside of the VMFA in Richmond means it is easily accessible to all the students of Richmond Public Schools.
The following quote from Kehinde Wiley will be part of the unit as well. It is an excerpt form a speech form the unveiling of Rumors of War in New York City prior to it being moved permanently to Richmond. “I’m a Black man walking those streets, I’m looking up at those things (Confederate monuments) that give me a sense of dread and fear. What does that feel like — physically — to walk a public space and to have your state, your country, your nation say ‘this is what we stand by’? No. We want more, we demand more, we creative people create more. And today, we say yes to something that looks like us, we say yes to inclusivity. We say yes to broader notions of what it means to be an American…. Are we ready?”10
Fred Moynihan who created the J.E.B Stuart statue was born in Great Britain and educated at the Royal Academy of Art in London. His statues of Civil War veterans were erected from Georgia to Connecticut. The statue erected in Richmond, Virginia in 1907 was removed from Monument Avenue in in 2021.11
The confederate monuments were erected to establish a construct of racial hierarchy. The removal of these works and the creation of new works of art related to their removal advocate for a more egalitarian society. This will help the students look for cues about racial hierarchies and colonial domination in the art work we study as we read The History of Mary Prince.
Mary Prince – A literary context
There are some steps the teacher will take prior to introducing this unit on incorporating trans-Atlantic art of the period of the British Empire as a companion to understanding The History of Mary Prince. Teachers who are using this narrative in their classroom need to address some areas of contextualization. The next sections will help address some specific issues that should help teachers with some educational areas of consideration prior to using this unit in the classroom.
Focus on awareness of bias as a threat to authenticity
Students, and society at large, need to interpret and evaluate information with a critical awareness of bias and its threat to accuracy. Too often students read something and assume it to be true without asking how historical context or even a writer’s personal agenda can influence the veracity of what they read. The book claims to be the narrative of Mary Prince, but she did not write it. She verbally recounted it in 1828 to a white English abolitionist who then wrote it. It was published in 1831.12 During the Victorian Era, it is not just possible, but more likely probable, that the person recording the words that Mary Prince spoke toned down any aspects sexual abuse that was rampantly inflicted by slave owners on female (and likely young male) enslaved Africans during this time. The book describes her being “stripped of her clothes” but does not elaborate. I am in no way advocating for high school students to read graphic accounts of sexual abuse. It is always important to be cognizant that an unacceptable number of our students are survivors of sexual abuse. The discussion of what really happened to Mary should not be handled indelicately. Students should be made aware that information they are reading was filtered from one perspective brings with it an inherent bias and a reduction in historical accuracy. This can provide a great opportunity for discussion with students about why this may have been omitted and whether a genuine account of history is even possible. Does all documented history come with inherent bias? Does all art? Can even something like a photograph or a video be truly unbiased? Even though art and historical documents may have biases and might not be completely authentic, merely being aware of and aggressively analyzing that bias can actually lead to a more complete understanding. The works of George Morland (discussed later in this section) will tie to this focus. There is no evidence that he saw slaves being traded in Africa or the Caribbean. He certainly never saw a shipwreck in Africa. However, he did create very powerful works about those exact topics. Does that diminish those works?
Focus on the theme of family- separation and violence
Mary Prince being separated from her family in the early part of the narrative and being separated from her husband later in the narrative are impactful events in her life. Again, some of our students may have experienced being separated from their parents so a delicate touch is of absolute necessity. This is an excellent time to discussion empathy with the students. Do they empathize/sympathize with Mary? The students obviously viscerally despise the men and women that show no regard for the attachments Mary has formed with her family and husband. Students can discuss why the slave owners have such blatant disregard the various emotional bonds between Mary, the other slaves, and their families. To what extent does it come from hyper-masculinized patriarchy that afforded men the right to inflict violence on anything they considered “theirs”? Is it significant that the women, especially, Mrs. Wood (the wife of the man who owns Mary Prince) often requests her husband to beat Mary? How does Mary challenge the audience to mentally choose to side with the victims or to side with cruel men and women and the dehumanizing status quo? There is an opportunity to ask the students whether they would have separated families if they were in the situation of the slave owner. If they say that they would not have inflicted this cruelty, the teacher can discuss if they, the students, have ever laughed at cruelty being inflicted upon someone in a video on the internet. There are several works of art will be relevant to this area of discussion. The works from George Morland and J.G. Stedman will discussed in the next section will be used to complement the analysis of family separation and violence in The History of Mary Prince.
Art from the Trans-Atlantic British Empire
An important goal of this unit is to instill in the students a sense of empathy for Mary Prince and how the absence of autonomy, and degradation at the hands of white owners dominated much of her life. By including these works and the writing and discussion that follow, the more visually oriented learners in class will especially benefit. The students should glean from the inclusion of works of art in the unit an empathy for what Africans endured and a genuine appreciation for their courage. The teacher will provide a general background of the artist with an emphasis on whether the artist ever witnessed the events they painted and, tying back to bias and purpose, and the degree that it should impact our interpretation and analysis of that work.
The students will view each work individually at a place in the narrative where it relates to a point in Mary’s life. By discussing the works the students will have a great understanding of what they are reading as well as develop their skills of artistic analysis. Every class is different and, depending on the strengths of the class, the teacher may choose to conduct a whole class discussion or divide the class into sections to allow for small group discussions before reuniting to discuss the work.
The works of George Morland
Figure 2
The Slave Trade George Morland, Oil on canvas 33.5” x 48.5” ca. 1788 (This work is classified as public domain and is available at https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_2010.8.1ab)
George Morland was a painter whose talent was obvious from an early age. He spent much of his young adulthood trying to escape his very controlling father, who viewed George a way to make money easily. Morland battled alcoholism for much of his life.13 We have no evidence that Morland ever travelled to Africa or the Caribbean so it is unlikely that he actually witnessed the events he paints in Slave Trade. Its intense portrayal of the separation of an African family ties well with the early section of The History of Mary Prince where Mary, whose life has been relatively idyllic for an enslaved person in this era, has her world decimated when she is suddenly separated from her family and sent to live on another planation. The subsequent sadness haunts her throughout the rest of the book. This work also provides an excellent opportunity to exam the artist’s purpose and use of symbolism. The artist chooses to include African’s being involve in the sale of other Africans. Is he implying that some how the Africans brought this upon themselves? Also, the canoe in foreground is clearly painted and the ship in the background is fuzzy. This is interpreted as it is clear that the family is being separated and one or more is going on the canoe. The fuzziness of the ship represents the unknown location to where they destined to be sent. In the book Mary is at the mercy of the finances and whims of her owners and is often moved to various parts of the Caribbean and eventually to England.
Figure 3
European Ship Wrecked on the Coast of Africa, known as African Hospitality, ca 1790 Oil on canvas 34.25” × 48.125” (This work is classified as public domain. A watercolor enhanced print is available at https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:42019)
After the students analyze, discuss, and write about The Slave Trade, they will view African Hospitality, the work Morland created right after The Slave Trade. In this work, Morland is clearly influenced by works of abolitionist poetry in that time.14 The Africans are giving succor to shipwrecked Europeans. The Africans have the power and are doing the opposite of what the Europeans at that time were doing to the Africans. They were not only assisting the Europeans, but the husband and wife are next to each other as opposed to being violently separated, as depicted in the previous work. The work however is not free from some details that seem to contradict what appears to be the artist’s primary message. The teacher should guide the students to discuss why the well-dressed (after a shipwreck?) Europeans are the center of the painting where the viewers gaze is focused. Why are the Africans nearly naked? (binary relationship) Why is the European baby’s face so detailed and beautiful when the African babies are much less details and less a part of the action of the painting? The teacher will guide the students to analyze how this portrayal of the more dressed, more detailed Europeans when compared to the benevolent Africans, undermines the Morland’s message that Europeans adopt a more humanized view of Africans. Or was the depiction of Europeans necessary for the dissemination of this work in order to spread its abolitionist message?
Both of these works were made into prints and circulated widely through England and France by associates of growing abolitionist movement.15
The work of John Gabriel Stedman
Figure 4
Print by William Blake of Flagellation of a female Samboe Slave by John Gabriel Stedman (1796). 10” x 7.64”
(This work is classified as public domain and is available at https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.4991.html)
One can argue that John Gabriel Stedman is one of the most complicated figures in the analysis of trans-Atlantic slavery during the era of Mary Prince. He was a Scottish solider who worked for the Dutch military suppressing slave and maroon uprisings in Dutch controlled South America and felt that slavery was a necessary labor system for the production of sugar. He later had an intense intimate relationship with an enslaved woman, Joana, for whom he seems to have genuine affection.16 This relationship contributes to not so subtle sexual overtones in some of Stedman’s sketches. Stedman kept a journal and his first account of the realities of slavery in the Dutch colonies were published in England and widely distributed. Many of works would be turned into engravings by William Blake and others were published and sold by prominent anti-slavery societies in England.17This work, Flagellation of a female Samboe Slave, is quite disturbing. It shows a nearly naked enslaved African woman hanging from a tree from her wrists which are bound. In the background it appears that two white men are ordering two enslaved African men to go whip the woman. This image brings to discussion many areas of our focus on violence and racial and gender hierarchies in the book. Also, the word samboe (also spelled sambo) was once use quite freely but today is considered offensive. Students can discuss the evolution of how we treat offensive words and have incorporated a more sensitive approach with their use, so what is the role for curators, creators, and consumers of art that some people find offensive. This should facilitate conversation about censorship.
Stedman’s work will be viewed after an especially grotesque scene in The History of Mary Prince where Mary witnesses physical punishment being inflicted on pregnant slave with whom she has a very close relationship. Mary sees her friend beaten so severely that she loses the unborn baby. This provides an opportunity to discuss the use of this artwork. Does it adequately capture the inhumanity of the scene? Does it go too far? To what extent is Austrian Professor Mario Klarer accurate when labeled Stedman’s work “humanitarian pornography”?18
Post Emancipation Artwork- two very different depictions
Near the end of The History of Mary Prince. Mary achieves emancipation in England. The emotional process of emancipation is nearly impossible to imagine. The students feel a catharsis as this woman, whose life they have connected with, will no longer be subjected to atrocities at the hands of Mr. and Mrs. Wood, the last of her owners. This is an excellent place to have student view to very divergent works of art that commemorate the emancipation of the African slaves in America.
Emancipation Group by Thomas Ball (Image available at https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3b01250/
This work of that was placed in Lincoln Park in Washington D.C. to commemorate the end of slavery. The Emancipation Memorial by a man named Thomas Ball. Thomas Ball was a white man from New England. The work was funded with monies raised by emancipated slaves.19 The work’s contribution to our history is enormous and it is vital for students to view this work in order to attain at true meaning of “emancipation”.
Emancipation Group features a paternal Abraham Lincoln standing over a kneeling newly emancipated African man. At certain angles in certainly appears to be shining President Lincoln’s shoes. This work is sometimes pejoratively referred to as the shoe shine memorial.20 The binary relationship is unmistakeable. Abraham Lincoln is standing and fully dressed which is easily compared to the African male who is kneeling and nearly naked. This provides students an excellent opportunity for analysis as to why Ball choose to portray emancipation of African slaves this way. Is the African man meant to be perceived to be rising and this is just the first step to him achieving his equal place in America? Is he encouraging all Americans to help their newly emancipated brothers and sisters? Is it meant to demean the African slaves by projecting the message that African slaves are still inherently inferior to white America? Frederick Douglas wrote, “What I want to see before I die is a monument representing the negro, not couchant on his knees like a four-footed animal, but erect on his feet like a man.”21
In 2021 Washington D.C. delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is reintroduces a bill to remove Emancipation Group where it stands in Lincoln Park in our nation’s capital.22 This followed replicas of Emancipation Group being removed from other locations most notably Boston.23 Once again discussions on censorship will be encouraged.
Forever Free by Edmonia Lewis
(Image available at https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Forever_Free_by_Edmonia_Lewis_-_The_Met,_2022.jpg)
Edmonia Lewis was a supremely talented woman of mixed African American and Native American heritage. Having been denied prospects to develop her artistic abilities in the United States, she joined a population of expatriated American writers and artist who found acceptance and opportunity in Italy.24 Her work takes its name from a line in the Emancipation Proclamation.25 It depicts not just a man but a woman as well. The male figure raises a fist with a broken chain and looks upward to signify strength while his other hand rest caringly on the back of the woman. The students will analyze this work and the Emancipation Group from the point of view of Mary Prince. Which would she prefer? An interesting aspect of this work is the woman in the sculpture. Though, as mentioned before, Ms. Lewis was a mix of African and native ancestry. Yet, she chose to depict the woman in Forever Free as having facial features and hair more commonly associated with woman of European descent. Well into the 20th century, Meta Vaux Fuller commented that this sculpture shows that “The man accepts [freedom] as a glorious victory, while the woman looks upon it as a precious gift.”26 Students can discuss what the impetus for Ms. Lewis choosing these features for her female subject might be. Is there a degree of bias in its creation? Patrons of the arts in the 19th century were still overwhelming white and male. Might this have shaped this amazing and historically significant work?
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