Drawing after a Detail of a Carte-de-visite portrait of Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, Taken by George G. Rockwood, ca 1860s
Canvas: Soft pastel, charcoal & charcoal pencil on raw canvas, under clear leveling gel
Frame: Stained pine wood with Liberian flag and Black Eyed Susans
40 x 40 in | 2020
Henry Highland Garnet Elementary School on Calvert Street in Chestertown was the elementary through high school for African American students in Kent County prior to integration. The school’s namesake, Henry Highland Garnet, was born a slave in Kent County, Maryland on December 23, 1815. Nine years later, Garnet was carried north by his parents to freedom in New York where he pursued an education. At the National Negro Convention held in Buffalo, NY in 1843, the then 27-year-old Presbyterian minister rattled the abolition establishment by sponsoring armed insurrection and underscoring the sentiment that the exploited Black people across the continent should “rather die freemen, than live to be slaves.”
By mid-century, Garnet became the founding president of the American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, an organization that waged international campaigns against human trafficking. During his tenure, Garnet traveled to the United Kingdom where he spoke widely against the practice of slavery. His collaborations throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, and South America expanded the meaning of emancipation.
Garnet was also a controversial proponent of Black immigration to other countries, such as Liberia in Africa. During the Civil War, Garnet recruited black soldiers to the Union Army, barely escaping a vengeful white mob during the New York Draft Riots of 1863. In 1865, Garnet made history when selected by President Lincoln as the first African American to deliver a sermon to the U.S. Congress after the passing of the 13th Amendment that gave African American men the right to vote.
In 1881, President James A. Garfield appointed Garnet to serve as U.S. Minister and Counsel General to Liberia (United States ambassador to Liberia), fulfilling his lifelong dream to travel to Africa. However, Garnet died on February 13, 1882, only a few months after his arrival. He was given a state funeral by the Liberian government.
Accompanying this framed portrait of Garnet, the Black Eyed Susans, Maryland’s state flower, represent Garnet’s birth place and the Liberian flag represent his resting place.
