The Stowe Center for Literary Activism in Hartford is putting the stories of Black freedom seekers and abolitionists at the center of its new exhibition, ‘6,000+ Declarations of Independence.’ The exhibit features the stories of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Sojourner Truth, Josiah Henson, and Phillis Wheatley through original comic art by Connecticut artist Joe Young.

Exploring Independence

The exhibit asks visitors to look beyond the familiar story of America’s founding and consider what July 4 meant to the millions of people who remained enslaved, and what independence meant to those who had to fight for it. For Erika Slocumb, the Stowe Center’s director of interpretation and visitor experience, the exhibit reflects a broader effort to change how American history is told.

The idea for the exhibit began in the Stowe Center’s archives, when Director of Collections Kat White discovered an unpublished narrative written by the Rev. William Phillips after the Civil War. In it, Phillips described a Fourth of July gathering where he stood before his community and delivered a speech declaring his freedom.

Freedom Narratives

The Stowe Center intentionally uses the term ‘freedom narratives’ rather than ‘slave narratives’ to emphasize the voices and agency of the people telling their stories. The exhibit’s title refers to more than 6,000 freedom narratives identified by historians, which were written by people who experienced enslavement, dictated, or preserved through oral traditions.

Young approached the goal of helping young people connect with history through comic art, which he believes is ‘just so inviting, and it’s fun.’ He deliberately centered Black figures in the exhibit because ‘they were left out.’ The exhibit comes as America is commemorating 250 years since the Declaration of Independence.

Original reporting: The Connecticut Mirror — read the source article.