The making. Thank you. [applause] announcer youre watching American History tv, all weekend, every weekend, on cspan3. Each week, American History tvs american artifacts visits museums, archives, and historic places. The National Museum of africanAmerican History and culture opened in september of 2016. Located on the National Mall near the washington monument, the museum has quickly become one of the most visited in the Nations Capital with capacity crowds almost every day. Up next, we visit the museum to tour the history galleries which begins three stories underground. Mary welcome to the exhibition. My name is mary elliott and i am a Museum Specialist and cocurator of the slavery and freedom exhibition, which is one of three exhibitions in the history gallery. We actually have three exhibitions in this gallery and those exhibitions cover 15thcentury africa and europe all the way to today. Some of the themes we cover in the exhibition include holding onto humanity under some of the most inhumane conditions. We look at the harsh realities of slavery and freedom, the resistance and survival of a people. We look at how africans and africanamericans shaped the world as well as a nation. We look at how they shaped the landscape and shaped the landscape. That means socially, politically, economically, geographically, as well as culturally and intellectually. But what is important for people thenderstand is throughout museum, we look at these stories as human stories. They are told through the africanamerican lens. Equally important to understand that this is a shared history and you will see yourself throughout this exhibition. Particularly looking at that Human Experience. Lets start looking at one of the opening labels for the slavery and freedom exhibition. Right behind me is a label that speaks to the making of the Atlantic World. It is really powerful because we feature the story of one of the leaders along the west african coast. She was in West Central Africa and she was part of a people. She strategically aligned with the portuguese, dutch, and turks church to avoid her people being enslaved as well as being in the slave trade. You will notice that right below her story is a quote from a gentleman of european descent. The statement says while i admit i am sickened at the purchase of slaves, i must be mum because how would we do without sugar or rum . What is important about that statement is to think about the morality of this particular story. What moral obligations do we have to each other . Concentrate on the opening line. I admit that i am sickened at the purchase of slaves, but then again, i must be mum because how would i do without sugar or rum . Very important that we look at those moral issues as we go through that exhibition. I have to point out that we do not start this exhibition with the story of slavery. We start with the story of humanity and we start in africa looking at it as a continent data of many people. Continent made up of many people, society, culture, and intellect. Lets look at some of the other objects in the exhibition. As we discussed, we just came through the beginning of the Transatlantic Slave Trade, looking at the making of the Atlantic World and a global economy. The driver of trade was sugar and that moved forward the effort to ship as many human beings across the Atlantic Ocean forced into slavery. So now we come to the story of Middle Passage. The Middle Passage being the space transporting africans from the west coast of africa the Middle Passage being the space transporting africans from the west coast of africa throughout the americas across the Atlantic Ocean. We have artifacts from a slave ship found off the coast of south africa. It left lisbon, went to mozambique, africa, picked up captive africans on its way to brazil to sell them as enslaved africans. The ship crashed off the coast of south africa. We are fortunate to have organized with George Washington university, the university of cape town, and partners in mozambique as we were able to identify the slave ship wreck on the ocean floor off the coast of south africa. One of the key markers to identify this as a slave ship wreck is some of the Research Revealed there were 1400 ballast stones on the ship. Those were used to offset the human weight. We know there were ballast stones because we found them on the ocean floor. We are excited to feature those in the middle space in Middle Passage. We do not have images in this space. We chose to allow the firstperson voice to carry the space. We wanted those who went through the experience to speak for themselves. While we talk about the human story, the human story extends to everybody. You will hear voices of those who were enslaved but you also hear voices of crew members. Youll hear voices of slaves slave ship surgeons. Discussing the horrors of the experience, but also understand there is an important understanding of the resistance, resilience, and the survival. We think of human suffering you have to think of the resilience of someone who can hold on during that experience. That seizes their spirit soon becomes fatal. Every morning, perhaps more instances than one are found of the living and the dead found together. Mary across the way from the Middle Passage space is the Transatlantic Slave Trade space. Again, we look at one of the themes, profit and power juxtaposed against the human cost. We have a sign where you see the business of the trade, the development of the plantation system and how everyone benefited from the trade. We also look at the human cost through the voices of those who were enslaved and the process of enslavement. One of the objects id like to point out in that space is the foxs wage book. It features the wages given to crew members who served on a slave ship. Again, looking at the human story. That document tells us two things. One, it lets us understand that everyone benefitted from the trade, but why would someone serve on a slave ship . We often think perhaps they wanted to gain passage to the new world or they needed to feed their family or going back to that moral issue, perhaps they thought it was justified just fine to make money and profit off the sale of humans. You will find many crewmembers committed suicide or ran away. This goes to that Human Experience. The Human Experience extends to everybody. Looking at the people below in the hull of the ship, slave ship crew members would pack the ship and that experience oftentimes, the slave ship captain said, how much cargo you can bring depends on how many enslaved people you can fit into the hull of a ship. It is a powerful story. Now we go to the colonial north America Space of the exhibition. Allow me to explain to you some of the design treatment we used to unpack this story. We break up the section by region because this is not a monolithic story. Africans in america shaped the landscape and were shaped by the landscape. The regions we break out include the chesapeake, where we look at the making of race. Then we move into low countries, down into the carolinas and call gullah islands and georgia area. That allows us to look at enslaving skill. Then we come to louisiana. We consider the convergence of culture. Finally we come to the north and look at the urban environment and the merchant system. What is important to note is that in each of these spaces the treatments are done in a pattern but they have their unique features. Its important to let you know about that pattern. From the beginning you see some of the regions of africa where people came from and the specific regions in the americas. You also see how the laws change over time and start to define white men and you start to see how africans become black herbal black in america. You start to see the status development of all people in north america, from plantation a planter elite, to yeoman white farmer, free blacks, and enslaved africans. You look at work in the space, life in the space, escape in the space, and we start to unpack the story of freedom through the story of rebellion. We humanize everything. We feature individual, personal stories about lived, labored, and rebelled in the spaces during this time. All of this is foundational to the development of the nation. What comes next is the fight for liberty. Slavery and freedom comes from the beginning. The fight for liberty is national. The fight for freedom is one that had been going on amongst africans from the time they were carried from the interior all the way to this point. Why dont we go to the section on the paradox of liberty where we start to unpack the story of what liberty and freedom mean and this pivotal time. We come from colonial north america and we are passing through the story about the revolutionary war. Now we are entering into the paradox of liberty. But first, let me show you a powerful object that is personal and speaks to genealogy and the importance that the role of genealogy helps play in telling the story. We enter into this revolutionary period and there is freedom everywhere, or so one would think. Freedom and liberty are the call of the day. Here we have a space that looks at free communities of color that were all over the nation at the time. One of the poignant objects also shows, while there were free communities of color, there were limits to that freedom. We were fortunate to be contacted by Elaine Thompson, a wonderful woman who took the time to really take care of her family heirlooms. This is a handmade tin owned by her ancestor, Joseph Trammell. He made the tin to protect his freedom. It was used to protect the freedom papers from 1852. Those freedom papers were vastly important to him because at any moments notice someone could challenge is freedom and he had to prove that. He had to register every two years in virginia and it gives us more insight on the personal experience of being free during this time. Sadly, Elaine Thompson has passed on but she was steward of her familys history and she was able to unpack quite a bit of her familys story. At this point, her greatniece has picked up the mantle and is carrying it forward. She wrote a book at age nine. She is getting ready to rewrite that book at age 16 and carry that Genealogical Research further. We are looking forward to finding out about Joseph Trammell during the period of slavery and freedom and his status as a free man. Lets look at the paradox of liberty. We talked about the stories of free communities of color. At the time you had free africanamericans who aligned with enslaved africanamericans, again, a collective voice fighting for freedom. They are fighting for freedom in a nation founded on liberty but still maintaining slavery. Directly behind me you see the cast figures of benjamin bannicker and thomas jefferson. We unpacked the story of voices of freedom. In addition to the voices of jefferson and banneker are a woman who petitioned for her freedom and won as well as phyllis wheatley. All voices of freedom. What is powerful to me about the connection of banneker and jefferson is banneker sending his almanac to jefferson and stating that africanamericans are brilliant. They are human. They contribute to the development of the nation and deserve to be free. Thomas jefferson essentially said you are the exception and freedom was not going to come during his particular time in life. This is a human story. In the midst of all of this inhumanity, you still have africanamericans fighting for freedom, fighting for liberty, fighting for the nation to recognize them as citizens in this world. As we go forward, we look at while they were laws restricting them, africanamericans found ways to go a around those laws and hold on to their humanity. Many things happened after the revolutionary war, including the development of the cotton gin in 1793 and the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the end of the International Slave trade in 18 1808. What did that mean . Please note the space we are in right now. Directly in front of me is a tower of cotton which is a marker as the driver of the trade. No different than sugar was during the early period. As we come out of the paradox of liberty and we look directly to the right, all the pieces of legislation, from the declaration of independence, the constitution, the dred scott decision. You see paired with those actual excerpts from speeches, sermons, from newspaper articles written by africanamericans speaking back to the moment. To my left is the story of the domestic slave trade. Again, remember, 1793 the cotton gin is produced. 1803, the Louisiana Purchase takes place. That means there is more land to cultivate cotton and cotton is high demand and being produced more efficiently. But that demand has an impact on African American bodies and mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, husbands, and wives are being sold away. This is a story of slavery and freedom. The same men, women, and children are fighting for their freedom all along the way. Defining freedom for this nation. One of the more pivotal stories and iconic stories is that of nat turner. We are fortunate to feature a bible owned by turner at the time of his escape and the time of the rebellion. Nat turner is pivotal because like many other rebellions that took place throughout the nation and the african diaspora, it made an impact on this country. Laws tightened up. While those laws tightened up, still africanamericans found ways to go around those laws. Allow me to point out we have a section directly behind me entitled making a way out of no way, where we look at the black codes and slave codes, codes that defined status, ability, autonomy. They were often times restricted more than you can imagine. Illegal to read, illegal to gather, illegal to practice their faith. One of the objects i would like to point out is a family object. We were fortunate enough to be contacted by Shirley Burke tried burke who reached out to us and donated her ancestors violin that he was given by a slave owner to perform the on the family plantation. That violin is important to the law regarding illegal to gather. Oftentimes africanamericans in the night find way to gather and leisure and love one another at the same time. Allow us to go down the hall and go see the slave cabin next, which is a poignant story and it is a community story. Again, remember, this is a shared history. Weve come from the story of the driver of the trade being cotton and we are in antebellum period. Again, we see the nation and the cacophony of activity going on and the development of legislation all deeply embedded with slavery. We look at the human story of african men and women finding ways to go around black codes and slave codes, but that speaks we have a deeper understanding of the personal experience of being sold away on the auction blocks and the juxtaposition of profit and power. It is important to note that one of the design features we have in this exhibition is we have a wall filled with excerpts from bills of sales and broadsides. You will see a young boy sold for five dollars. Five dollars for a young black boy is what the excerpt said. Understand five dollars is the monetary value, but the value of the boy to his mother or brother or sister is immeasurable. That gets to the story of life, work, and enslavement, looking at the many complexities of the Human Experience during the antebellum period. We were fortunate to receive a call from a Historic Preservation society that wanted to donate a slave cabin to our museum. They knew we were looking for a slave cabin to tell the story in a powerful way and they had one. Its from a plantation in south carolina. What is powerful about this is on the front side, we interpret it looking at it as slavery. On the backside, we look at it as freedom. Thats where the union army camped out here during the civil war and you see where land is given to the African American community and taken away several times until it is ultimately taken away for good. Lets talk about the interpretation in terms of slavery. What is important about the cabin not unlike where they locked up animals, this could be considered a pen, but africanamerican men and women and children, through resistance and resilience and holding onto their humanity found ways to hold on to one another. They found ways to create new cultural practices. While we look at life, work, and enslavement in this space, we break down members of the community. The nurturers, the builders, the cultivators. Allow me to speak about a builder. The story of solomon williams was a black man on a plantation in williams. This is a gentleman who had no education, but created a drill bit that is an architectural feat. You look at the same skill set he used to create an ornate grave marker for his wife. He used those skills to create grave markers for members of his community. He also created the shackles that were used on the enslaved on the plantation site. We dont look at a broad stroke. We dont look at just what he wore, what he ate, when he got up in the morning, how much land he cultivated. This is a man and his story is told through life in terms of how he designed the ornate grave markers, work in his terms to his inability to be educated, but still being able to create the drill bit, being responsible for creating those on the plantation site. That takes us to the story of the civil war. We will talk about the coming of the civil war and how complex that story is. It is not just north versus south. But there were many voices involved in the fight. Weve just come from the slave cabin. We can talk about objects and their importance in the historical context, but what is important to note is how we acquire these objects. In the process of dismantling the slave cabin, we had Community Members come out and help us unpack the story of the community. Included in that community are the descendents of the enslaved as well as the descendents of the slaveholding family. We were fortunate to meet with both groups together and talk about the importance of this history coming to the general public, to get a deeper understanding of what it needs what it means to be american. Now, we know about slavery and we know about freedom and know there was a civil war which had a major impact on this nation. We look at the story of the civil war and keeping the union together. And embedded in the secession papers is slavery, but understand africanamericans fled to the union lines as they came closer to where many of the plantation sites were located. At that time, confederates demanded their property back at but the union declared them contraband of war and as such they were able to keep them. These men, women, and children turned the fight to keep the union together into a fight for freedom. And as such, one of the greatest speakers of our time and one of the most influential members of the Africanamerican Community and america itself is frederick douglas. Frederick douglass led the charge on pushing for freedom and started dialogue with abraham lincoln. He ensured that africanamerican men could fight on the battlefield for their freedom. Right behind me is a dynamic broadside that we were fortunate to receive where you see a call for men of color to arms. You can only imagine how powerful that must have been for africanamerican men to understand they could suit up and fight for freedom and ensure the freedom of generations that follow them. Frederick douglas played a pivotal role. While he ensured africanamerican men could fight in the union army, he was in a constant dialogue with president lincoln to ensure that freedom came through the emancipation proclamation and ultimately the 13th amendment. We would be remiss if we left out womens involvmenet involvement of the civil war, like charlotte grimke. You will also see the story of harry tubman. She also served as a union spy. Why dont we go forward and look at some of the artifacts that really speak to freedom during the. During the period of emancipation . How do you tell a whole population of people that they are now free . In fact, those same men that Frederick Douglass fought for to ensure they would be able to fight for freedom on the battlefield were responsible for carrying things such as this, the very important, tiny, the but powerful, handheld emancipation proclamation. They carried a handheld emancipation proclamation from plantation to plantation and they told men, women, and children they were no longer enslaved. The space we are in is quite powerful. Behind me you see the legislation that started with the declaration of independence and constitution and bill of rights carries all the way through the exhibition until you come to this point. You see through the agency of africanamerican men and women, we come to the emancipation proclamation, the 13th amendment, 14th amendment, and 15th amendment. Those are powerful even today but note the space we are in speaks to the reconstruction period. We are fortunate to feature an original Campaign Button owned by William Beverley nash, one of the several africanamerican men who ran for office and secured a position in their local legislature and congressional as well as as congressional members. William beverly nash was based in north carolina. Women, men, and children fought to reconnect with relatives who were sold away during the domestic slave trade. The union army camped out at the point of pines plantation. Land was given to those formally formerly enslaved and taken away at least three times. Ultimately it was taken away for good. However, a coop was formed amongst nine men who were able to secure 900 acres of land. They created their own community. I have to point out something very important because this takes us into the segregation era. This is something that occurred during the period of slavery. Youll note the church is featured here. The church is featured in our story as well. The church is at the center of the community development. The church was a site not just for sanctuary, but for community organizing, civic engagement, for communication, for gathering, for education. It was a place for leadership development. The church plays a pivotal role and we are excited to feature the story of metropolitan ame church, the church attended by Frederick Douglass. Its been my pleasure to take you on this tour. We look forward to having you here and having you look through some of the exciting objects in our exhibition and learning more about the american experience, this human story, indeed a shared history