Reframed Perspective and Space for Connection


The Chesapeake Heartland team is proud to have supported the work of Community Curation Fellows Jason Patterson and Tara Gladden. The racial unrest of 2020 demands not only a complex and clear-eyed view of American history, but also a historical practice that can bring disparate communities together into conversation and mutual action. This exhibit, On the Black History of Kent County and Washington College, does both.

As the Starr Center’s Community Historian Airlee Ringgold Johnson explains, “Jason’s research-based work represents a curated chronology of the Black Experience in Kent County and Washington College. Often these narratives have been separated but Jason’s work shows how these histories are interwoven – sometimes proudly, sometimes regrettably – into our shared landscape, culture, and campus.”

“African Americans in Kent County have long known the ‘hidden stories’ of Washington College,” Starr Center Community Historian, and deeply-rooted Kent County resident, Carolyn Brooks clarifies. “After all, we were the slave laborers, the boiler room operators, the cleaners of dormitories, the cooks in the cafeteria, and the maids in the Hynson-Ringgold House. Only when we all know and acknowledge these histories, can the healing begin.” Brooks’ powerful words highlight that there is still much reconciliation to be done between the campus and community. This exhibit, she suggests, serves as a critical pivot point: “I see this exhibit as a gateway to the exploration of the African American journey in Kent County – from obscurity to prominence. Jason’s work prompts us forward. How much more history is ready for reframing in our court houses, schools, and church records, in our attics, trunks, and basements?”

Of the many critical questions that Jason’s artwork raises, there was one as of January 2020, we hadn’t at all expected. According to Starr Center’s Digital Historian & Archivist Jasmyn Castro, “the exhibit presented difficult questions to answer with regards to community engagement – namely, how does one best engage with deeply complex conversations in a time of social isolation and unrest?” To answer this question, Jason and Tara responded with a virtual exhibit space that has all the more potential for audience engagement. In a moment when archives, galleries, and classrooms are still closed to the public, Castro points out, this virtual exhibit immediately makes accessible archival materials, educational resources, and Black-led community conversations, “providing a platform for the African American community tell their own story.”

To understand the inclusivity of Jason and Tara’s exhibit-building process, one need look no further than the Community Conversation they organized as part of this year’s Legacy Day, an annual celebration of Kent County’s African American heritage. In response to Jason’s work, a rich and revealing conversation ensued between alumni-of-color from Washington College and African Americans deeply rooted in the community. The recording, available to all on Youtube and preserved for posterity on Chesapeake Heartland’s digital archive, has been viewed by 2,800 people (a crowd large enough to pack Decker Theater 5 times over). But more importantly, the conversation reframed perspectives and unlocked collaborative opportunities for both campus and community members – more and more of whom are seeking to build bridges and reframe history together.

We believe that the practice of history should not seek to crown heroes or dethrone villains. Rather it is the role of history to better understand people and their experiences. Jason’s artwork does just that – to know Thomas Morris was the first Black graduate of Washington College is an important point of information; to seek a better understanding of the culture he integrated, the challenges he faced, and the strategies he crafted in response is fully engaging in the practice of history.

The brilliance of Jason and Tara’s exhibit can be found in the historical selection, the craftsmanship, the framing, and the staging. But it is also on display in the blank spaces between each artwork, in the questions that each work asks of the other, in the questions that the exhibit asks of us. Jason’s hand-crafted frames center and stabilize us. They give us context for the journey. But there are spaces between them too, prompting us to pause, reflect, connect, and act.

Sankofa!

Airlee Ringgold Johnson
Carolyn Brooks
Patrick Nugent