One year ago, Rachel Seligman, director of the Mandeville Gallery, and Clifford Brown,
professor of political science, had never heard the name Solomon Northup.
This week, after a year of exhaustive research with students on the free man from
Saratoga who in 1841 was kidnapped into Louisiana slavery, they will begin sharing
Northup's story and the American slave experience in a special dual exhibit in the
Nott Memorial.
Twelve Years a Slave: The Kidnapping, Enslavement and Rescue of Solomon Northup
and Powre Above Powres: Passing Freedom opened Thursday in the Nott Memorial.
Seligman curated the Northup exhibit with assistance from Khayree Miles '01 and
Wendyanne Ramroop '01. Brown conducted research for the show with help from Heather
Buanno '98, Heath Fradkopp'00, Miles and Ramroop.
After reading Solomon Northup's autobiography Twelve Years a Slave, first
published as a bestseller in 1853, Seligman and Brown agreed to ask Terry Adkins, an
internationally renowned sculptor and musician, to create a site-specific installation for
Union in response to Northup's story. Adkins' exhibit, Powre Above Powres:
Passing Freedom, reflects on the themes of the book and is tailored to the unique
architecture of the Nott Memorial.
“Then we came up with the idea of supplementing Adkins' exhibit with another
exhibition to retell the story of Northup's life – a presentation of the source
and the art it inspired,” Seligman says. The result, two complete exhibits in the
Mandeville Gallery and Dyson Hall, is a remarkable exploration of both Northup's
experience and the general themes of slavery.
Seligman and Brown decided to include students in the research, and asked Buanno,
Fradkoff, Miles, and Ramroop to help. “It was a fabulous opportunity for students to
do original research, and we could not have completed the exhibit without them,”
Seligman says.
“Our aim was to build from the core of the text supporting documentation to tell
Northup's story visually,” Seligman explains. “Therefore, we had to go back
and search for various items and places referred to in the book.” Dozens of
photographs, prints, documents and artifacts, including the bill of sale into slavery,
retell the story of the kidnapping and eventual rescue of Solomon Northup.
“Most everything you see in the exhibit represents an enormous investment in
time,” Brown explains. The students, along with Brown, conducted research in local
libraries and historical societies, searched for Solomon Northup's living ancestors,
and traced Northup's journey to Washington and Louisiana as they collected new
information and took photographs for the exhibition.
“This exhibit is significant because it touches on so many different areas of
interest,” Seligman concludes. “It is regionally and historically important,
Solomon Northup's narrative is superbly written, music plays an important role in his
spiritual survival, and Terry Adkin's work is an evocative and provoking commentary
on slavery.”
The exhibits are on display through March 14.