My first meeting and studio visit with Jason Patterson was in July of 2019, just before I “officially” began as Gallery Director and Curator for Kohl Gallery at Washington College. I learned of Jason's work through my soon-to-be Art and Art History Department colleagues, Professors Benjamin Tilghman and Julie Wills. During this meeting, Jason introduced me to his Starr Center Frederick Douglass Fellowship work researching Washington College, Chestertown, and Kent County African American history from the late 18th through the 20th centuries. We discussed his research-based approach to artmaking - a contemporary art practice that is not dissimilar to writing a book or essay; allowing historic research to provide impetus and form narratives that guide the art making process. We talked about the importance of uncovering little-known Black histories, connecting these histories to current social conditions, and the influential power of images to shape our perception of the world.

Over the course of the past 2 years Jason has crafted a profound body of work. Work that is not only exquisitely rendered in terms of formal art practices but is the result of decades of ongoing research devoted to African American history in Kent County and at Washington College. Research that over the years has been done by students, faculty, and staff at the Starr Center and at the College, by Patterson during his Frederick Douglass Fellowship and more recently by his writing partner, Jaelon Moaney. In addition to his formal scholarship in African American history and culture, American politics, and environmental studies, Moaney offers an important, deeply rooted local perspective to the project. As a descendant of America’s founding Black families in both Talbot (Copperville & Unionville) and Kent (Georgetown & Worton Point) Counties along with a devoted connection to Bethel A.M.E. Church in Chestertown, Moaney brings generations of intimate knowledge to the project. The wisdom he has shared so freely contributes a defining gravity to this work.

The resulting exhibit, On the Black History of Kent County and Washington College, by Jason Patterson looks critically at institutional and public legacies of enslavement, white supremacy, and racism, while highlighting the experiences and achievements of African American Washington College students and important Kent County African American leaders. It presents a carefully curated narrative of resistance, resilience, and achievement from the 1780’s to the present.

Throughout the exhibit we are confronted with responsorial artworks that expose forces and figures of racial oppression, while illuminating the struggles and victories of African Americans who battled injustice. The exhibit draws attention to far-reaching implications of important issues such as systemic racism, voting suppression, and equal access to education and healthcare that continue to affect Black communities today.

Patterson’s work is focused on the re-creation of archival images and documents. The original artworks in the exhibit are modeled after yearbook photos, newspaper clippings, historic portraits and documents discovered in local and Washington college archives. What is particularly poignant about Patterson’s approach is his cyclical process of research, re-creation and re-presentation of documents that already exist in our cultural archives. The act of re-contextualizing these documents in relation to one another is a kind of curation that shapes the way we comprehend both past and present. The choices Patterson makes in the arrangement and juxtaposition of historic texts and images is a large part of the artistic process. It is through the act of re-contextualization that Patterson presents new narratives, exposing causal relationships that offer revelatory perspectives. Allowing untold and underrepresented histories to live alongside and in relation to one another reframes commonly accepted narratives in revolutionary ways.

Patterson’s forthright, matter of fact presentations function as a form of awareness building activism; a radical kind of acknowledgement that not only draws attention to the injustice being referenced but takes a step further by providing factual information that proves the thesis. We see this over and over again in the way Patterson contextualizes the historic relationships between his subjects.

One example is how William Rivers, Washington College’s 13th president and a staunch, self-proclaimed, advocate of White Supremacy is presented alongside 2 drawings modeled after yearbook photos of white Washington College students in Blackface performing minstrel shows as late as 1961. These works are shown in relation to yearbook drawings of the first three Black graduates of Washington College classes of 1962, 64, and 65. This intentional act of historic contextualization draws attention to the lingering effects of segregation and points out a documented history of racialized cultural norms at Washington College. The viewer is asked to pause and consider what the college experience was like for these first 3 Black students. By presenting evidence of the culture in which these students were enmeshed, one is compelled to wonder what they may have been confronted with each day, how they persevered, and succeeded as Washington College students. It is a critical chain of images and information that pushes the viewer toward greater empathy and understanding.

Showing Henry Highland Garnet in a face-off with George Vickers, places these two 19th century contemporaries in their historical context as opposing, concurrent, political activists. Both were born in Kent County; Garnet into slavery, Vickers into white privilege; Garnet worked for the equality of African Americans, Vickers opposed the 15th amendment which would allow Black men voting rights. As viewers, we are urged to consider what these two powerful men stood for and against, and the worlds of difference between the ideals they spent their lives working to uphold and change. Furthermore, these two portraits encapsulate conflicts of sociopolitical polarity that our country continues to struggle with today.

The inclusion of prominent Kent County husband and wife duo, Elmer and Marjorie Hawkins pays tribute to the tireless work they did to improve life and offer important basic resources to the Kent County African American community during the Jim Crow era. Community leader, Elmer Hawkins worked to provide quality education to the Black community as Principal of the segregated African American Henry Highland Garnet school. While Marjorie Hawkins, a certified nurse with a focus on child healthcare, administered much needed, difficult to access medical services to the Black community. Highlighting the work of these two important figures reminds us of present-day challenges many Black communities still have accessing quality education and healthcare.

Patterson states his research-based practice is “dedicated to ensuring the historical and social narratives presented in his works are well represented” and the choice to include two historically problematic paintings from the Washington College archive, A View of Chestertown from White House Farm (c.1795) and Governor Paca Lays the Cornerstone of the First Washington College Building (1939) work in support of this mission.

The first of these paintings, A View of Chestertown from White House Farm (c.1795) marks the beginning of the timeline and narrative of the exhibit. It depicts wealthy Kent County landowner Simon Wilmer - who donated a portion of his land to Washington College and commissioned the painting - seated upon a horse in front of his home, with the African Americans he enslaved working in a field and Washington College in the distance. This historic artifact is shown alongside Patterson’s original work, A Created Document with an Excerpt from the Late Simon Wilmer’s 1798 Estate Inventory. This document includes both historical and current information about The View of Chestertown from Whitehouse Farm; and most notably, includes the names and monetary values placed on the enslaved African Americans in the painting. Patterson once again uses historic contextualization, the power of the image and written document to offer a pointed illustration of the inhumanity of enslavement.

Governor Paca Lays the Cornerstone of the First Washington College Building (1939), a massive mural that hung in Bunting Hall, when it was the college’s library, serves as an overarching reference point for the exhibition. It depicts the ceremonious laying of the cornerstone of Washington College’s first building in 1783. In the painting, a shirtless, presumably enslaved African American man places the cornerstone while Maryland Governor William Paca oversees, along with Rev. Dr. William Smith and other Washington College Visitors and Governors. An interesting fact about this work is there is no mention of the involvement of an enslaved man in the 1784 published description of this event. Which begs the question Patterson asks: “Why did artist M. Paul Roche represent slavery as an overt focal point in a celebratory mural for the college’s library?” One might follow-up by asking, "What conversations took place regarding the depiction of this important event when commissioned by Washington College?" Once again, the viewer is asked to consider the implications this historic artifact brings forward.

Careful consideration was given to the context in which these two paintings would be presented in the exhibit. These artifacts clearly elucidate overarching social and economic implications of enslavement as related to both Washington College and Kent County. They ask the viewer to consider not only what has changed, but also what has stayed the same. These paintings, the scenes they depict, and the questions they raise, set the tone for the exhibit's narrative streams of injustice and opposition, strength and resilience, activism and achievement. Communicating the difficult narratives in this exhibit in the most impactful, sensitive, and meaningful way possible has been a steadfast focus.

Another important component not to be overlooked in Patterson’s work are the frames he painstakingly designs and builds to house his portraits and documents. Patterson considers his frames to be as much a part of the artwork as the portraits and documents they contain. These frames provide yet another layer of contextualization; acting as the windows through which we view these important figures and texts. They are also designed to stylistically embody the time period of the history they contain. Of particular note is the frame which houses Henry Highland Garnet’s portrait. It is the largest, most grand of all the frames in the exhibit, inferring the stature Garnet earned through his life and work, his public legacy, and his journey of struggle to great achievement.

The collaborative process has expanded the scope of the exhibition into a multi-layered, socially engaged project with many partners, contributors, and supporters. We’re developing a series of Community Conversations in an effort to create dialogue around the exhibit through interactive platforms. We’re also working with Erin Counihan, Coordinator of Secondary Education at Washington College to develop Educational Resources for the public and Kent County Public Schools.

The process began with early talks about the direction an exhibition and supporting events might take between Patterson, myself, and Dr. Patrick Nugent, Deputy Director of the Starr Center –who has been a constant, vital ally, unendingly generous with his time and ideas. Conversations expanded to explore how we could best involve the voices and perspectives of students and this inquiry grew to foster an important alliance with the Black Student Union. Support from former President, Jocelyn Elmore and BSU Advisor, Erneatka Webster led to pivotal connections with students past and present. Alumnus, Carolyn Erwin Johnson came to us through this alliance and has been especially generous to the project by sharing riveting video testimonials of her experience as a Black student at Washington College from 1966-70. She also participated in our first Community Conversation: Legacies of Education and the Black Experience at Washington College and in Kent County in August, along with alumni Jocelyn Elmore and Darius Johnson. Dr. Alisha Knight, Washington College Professor and specialist in African American literature who developed the influential course Black Men & Women: Images of Race and Gender in American Literature and Culture, has offered critical input and student connection. Another important relationship has been with Dr. Carol Wilson who has worked with students since 2018 on her Slavery and Freedom at Washington College project. Dr. Wilson’s work has been incredibly influential and some of her research is represented in the exhibit.

Airlee Johnson, Chesapeake Heartland Community Historian has helped to implement transformative community focused ideas, greatly aiding in the project’s community connection. She connected us with Legacy Day, which hosted our first Community Conversation, and with Reverend Monique Davis, Pastor of Mt. Olive A.M.E. Church who moderated this conversation with incredibe depth and compassion. Carolyn Brooks, also a Chesapeake Heartland Community Historian, has been tremendously helpful with research and Jasmyn Castro, Chesapeake Heartland Digital Historian extraordinaire has been a rock - instrumental in the building and compilation of this website. Lindsay Shelton, WC Director of Archives & Technical Services has been amazingly helpful in the work she has done to assist us in showing the historic works in the exhibit. Vic Sensenig, Vice President for Planning and Policy, Chief of Staff, and Chair of the Washington College History Project has been a steady, essential advocate for this ongoing work and Adam Goodheart, Director of the Starr Center has offered enduring support and unparalleled insight from the very beginning.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the impact that that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the project. There have been many twists and turns during the course of our work, but we have remained flexible and have stayed vigilant in our problem-solving efforts. What was originally intended as an in-person Kohl Gallery exhibition with supporting in-gallery events, was reimagined as this online exhibit with associated virtual events. We continue to hold the hope that this work can be encountered in-person in Kohl Gallery in the near future.

In addition to navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve experienced the national reckoning around historic monuments and systemic racism with the Black Lives Matter movement and worldwide protests of 2020. We’ve seen racial justice initiatives come to the forefront at Washington College with Professor Carol Wilson’s ongoing Washington College Slavery Project, pre-COVID student protests in 2019, and the formation of the Washington College History Project, initiated in summer 2020, and charged with “the honest and forthright examination of the institution’s troubling historical legacy of racism and the urgent need to acknowledge and reconcile this history in order to dismantle racial injustices in the present moment.” Furthermore, Washington College’s class of 2020 voted to rename Harford Hall after Thomas Morris, Washington College’s first African American graduate, represented in this exhibition. This historic renaming was presented at the 2020 commencement ceremony.

In Kent county, we’ve witnessed the momentum of campaigns such as Chestertown Unites Against Racism, the Black Lives Matter mural projects, the passing of the new Resolution Against Racism, the formation of a Human Rights Commission and The James Taylor Lynching Remembrance Coalition.

The project’s timing within this current context imbues the work with even greater significance. As it recognizes and responds to local legacies, it echoes larger movements of activism happening in contemporary art and culture right now. Art is never created in a vacuum. It is always a product of its time. Patterson is not alone in his pursuits. His approach, although unique to him, is part of a long lineage of artists who have worked and are currently working to bring light to pluralistic and multi-perspective experiences and histories. Within this lineage, Patterson's work is particularly situated within a growing practice in which contemporary artists of color are creating works in response to our national history of enslavement, white supremacy, and racial injustice.

Think of Kehinde Wiley - the painter of President Obama’s portrait - who recently installed Rumors of War in Richmond, a monumental sculpture of a Black man with dreadlocks wearing a black hoodie mounted atop a black horse modeled after a civil war monument of Confederate General, J.E.B. Stuart - also located in Richmond. Or, imagine Titus Kaphar’s painting, Beyond the Myth of Benevolence which depicts a bare shouldered, enslaved Black woman who peers out from behind peeled back layers of canvas on which a recreation of an iconic Rembrandt Peale portrait of Thomas Jefferson is painted. The Black women is meant to represent Sally Hemings, who had several children by Thomas Jefferson, who enslaved her. Or, picture yourself at Sonya Clark's participatory performance, Unraveling, in which audience members are invited to join the artist in the laborious act of unraveling a confederate flag one strand at a time. In addition to Patterson, these are just a few examples of artists working in this milieu right now, there are many more.

These important movements happening in contemporary art and culture focus on illuminating injustice and untold, marginalized histories; exposing, reframing, and expanding the scope of our American narrative. Jason Patterson’s work is a vital part of this movement and growing lineage. A movement and lineage that beckons us to revisit, recognize, and reconsider our history using the power of research, artistic practice, and radical acknowledgement to push toward a more perfect union in which the promise of truth, justice, and equality is for all.

↵ On the Black History of Kent County & Washington College