Narratives for Cultural Institutions

There is a large amount of text supporting the narrative of slavery in the North, but the narratives that discuss the northern state of New York are tightly based on New York City proper which is today’s lower Manhattan. Rural New York greatly differs from its southern counterpart. Those living in Upper Manhattan provided resources to the city and were part of abolition movements pre- and post-emancipation. Researching Upper Manhattan and the relationship between the enslavers and enslaved can greatly add to the ongoing research of African and Indigenous lives that have been intentionally excluded from curriculum in the past.

 

By utilizing census records, maps, and slave ads in newspapers I have been able to develop short narratives of specific free and enslaved Africans, such as Francis Cudjoe who lived and worked on a farm as an enslaved man in today’s Inwood at the turn of the 19th century and was granted freedom through manumission; and Cato Alexander, who was a freed African in today’s Midtown East who became known as a prominent tavern and innkeeper and one of the wealthiest Black Americans at his time in the early 1800s.

 

I struggle with the process of telling these stories and know I am not alone as cultural and education institutions also wonder how to implement enslaved narratives for reinterpretation. No matter how big or how small an institution, these struggles are present, and I hope my research can help close the gap in Upper Manhattan history which can assist the implementation of adding these narratives in already existing exhibitions and curriculum.

 

It can be challenging to discuss slavery while being both receptive to the audience and maintaining boundaries for all backgrounds and age groups in a respectful manner. There are still many who are unfamiliar with the history of slavery in the North or have a perception that slavery in the North was less harsh. There are ways to incorporate the enslaved narrative over time or to take a more direct approach.

 

Many museums in the South and some in the North have completed their reinterpretation process which we can use as an advantage to understand what does and does not work in this setting. The New-York Historical Society (NYHS), According to Kathleen Hulser in Politics of Memory: Making Slavery Visible in the Public Space, used the presence of black violence in the media to create an exhibit that was “a bold step away from long-standing cautious attitudes about exhibiting controversial and disturbing subjects” (Hulser 2012, 235).

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Working at a historic site with a small staff like the Dyckman Farmhouse Museum leaves little time to develop refreshed narratives that can highlight stories that have been excluded in the past. While different from plantations in the South, heritage sites throughout the United States struggle with responding to the institutions that often govern or regulate the historic site, such as the National Park Service, or in New York, New York City Parks and Recreation.

 

Ayana Omilade Flewellen uses the Floridian Kingsley Plantation as her case study for understanding the marginalized narratives of the enslaved at this site and how outside forces affect the implementation of historical narratives. The complexity of African diaspora work that Flewellen undertook was showcased as “central to project design and the interpretation process” (Flewellen 2017). Flewellen has utilized a framework combining critical pedagogy with Black feminism archaeology to highlight enslaved narratives at heritage sites. Though not a Southern plantation, Flewellen’s style translates to my work in Upper Manhattan and has proved to be beneficial when developing narratives with very little material culture and archival material pertaining to the enslaved people and their lives.

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The research of 1600s to 1800s colonial America is already difficult for rural areas, so research on African and Indigenous lives proves to be exceptionally difficult as there is very little documentation available. This can also pertain to museums who have limited collections that are attributed to enslaved experiences. Though collections may be limited, there are creative steps that can be used in discovering enslaved stories. Hulser states that even “in the absence of a wealth of… the customary artifacts that comprise most museums,” (Hulser 2012, 235) a more innovative way of thinking is necessary to convey these themes.

 

In addition, institutions must also consider how this narrative is presented to the public. According to Anne Marie Lindsay in Reconsidering Interpretation of Heritage Sites, the ideal way to share these narratives effectively is to develop and execute an “historical narrative that speaks to many types of guests while remaining true to the established goals of portraying everyday life in an approach which educates and informs in a lasting manner.” (Lindsay 2019, 118-119). By taking even small steps towards adding these new narratives, an institution is opening a new dialogue and holding other institutions accountable to also progress in this manner. By being honest and inclusive, cultural and educational institutions can aid in fighting systemic racism.

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How an institution provides these narratives can also be tricky. As Lindsay describes, several plantation museums and other historical house museums have started to introduce enslaved narratives in their museum. However, with the introduction of a new narrative, rather than restructuring the whole narrative, many museums choose to select certain areas of the museum or provide specific tours that introduce the history of the enslaved. This gives the appearance of a specialized topic or temporary exhibit, which can do the opposite of the intention which is to highlight the lives of the enslaved. This artificial separation in narration gives a false interpretation of the lesser importance of African American history. Lindsay elaborates this as, “One, the white narrative, is presented as the narrative of American progress. The secondary narratives are presented as existing concurrently, but without impact or significance to larger American themes” (Lindsay 2019, 211-212).

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While this message is not the intention of many museums, there can be a lack of funding or resources to initiate a full reinterpretation plan. There needs to be some credit given to those institutions, particularly smaller or underfunded ones, who are doing the research and are telling the stories of those lives they have discovered.