The Center for Reconciliation will sponsor a discussion of a select group of images and objects related to slavery and race, including some from private collections. This is a rare opportunity to see and learn about these items from Joanne Pope Melish, Ph. D., Professor Emerita, University of Kentucky. Dr. Melish is the author of Disowning Slavery: Gradual Emancipation and Race in New England, 1780 – 1860 . To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/envisioning-race-a-special-showing-tickets-38313283061

The Art of Race series returns November 16th. The program, first initiated by the CFR in 2016, provides opportunities to go behind the scenes at the RISD Museum, see pieces from their extensive collection that have never been on display, and discuss the intersection of art and race with community members from around the region. 

The program will be facilitated by art historians from RISD and historians focused on race and culture from the Center for Reconciliation .  Audience members are invited to look, listen and share their perspectives on these rarely seen works. This program is only open to 20 participants in order to engender deep thinking, a vigorous discussion, and the opportunity to get up close and personal with the art.

The Inaugural Doors Open Rhode Island Festival was a smashing success for the Center for Reconciliation and the Cathedral of St. John.  Over 800 visitors stopped by for tours of the building, exhibits and the cemetery. The cathedral was one of over 20 historic sites open to the public without charge, most of which, like the cathedral, are not normally open to the public. Volunteers arriving early found a line outside the doors as early as 10 am even though the official start time was at noon. This was followed by a steady stream of visitors from around the state and around the world. 

Three areas were open for visitors. In the undercroft, or lower level, visitors were treated to two exhibitions on Rhode Island's history of slavery and volunteers excited to answer questions and discuss race in Rhode Island. The two exhibits were Black Mechanics: The Making of an American University and Nation, on loan from Brown's Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, and If Jane Should Want to be Sold , on loan from The Little Compton Historical Society. In the cathedral's sanctuary on the second floor, volunteers and staff shared the cathedral's history, discussed its architecture and renovation projects and the cathedral's future as a center for reconciliation. The las stop on the tour was the cathedral's colonial era cemetery. There volunteers focused their talks on the stories of enslaved and free Black members of the church along with slave owning members.

DoorsOpenRI is planned to become an annual event. We hope you will join us us next year!

In 1831, Nat Turner led an uprising of enslaved people against the slave owning class of Southampton, Virginia. After lives trapped in the violent institution of slavery, Nat Turner and his followers armed themselves and waged war on their owners, killing about sixty masters. This was the highest number of deaths caused by an enslaved uprising in the South. The rebellion was put down within a few days, but led to widespread fear and violent retaliation by local whites. The state executed 56 enslaved people accused of being part of the rebellion, and white militias and mobs murdered another 120 enslaved and free African Americans.

After giving an overview of the rebellion Dr. Breen described lessons learned by both those seeking to create uprisings, and to suppress them. Previous revolts had been stopped before they happened because too many people knew about the plans, and someone inevitably talked. Turner’s insight was to keep the plans known to only a select few, and as a result, the rebellion lasted longer and was more devastating to the slave owners than earlier revolts. Those seeking to suppress the revolts also learned from his revolt, and across the South, states passed new laws prohibiting education of enslaved African-Americans and restricting rights of assembly and other civil rights for free black people.

Dr. Breen explored the history of three integrated churches in Virginia following the revolt. Since African-Americans were prohibited from having their own churches, they were accepted as part of some white worshipping communities. However, as fear among whites increased, congregations were divided over how much welcome to extend. Among these Baptist churches, the conflict centered on the administration of communion.  Dr. Breen described the meaning of the Lord’s Supper in Baptist churches as centering on relationships within the sharing community (in communion), rather than focusing on the communicant’s relationship with God, as in more liturgical churches. This presented a dilemma: How much did white church members want to be in communion with black members? Churches took different paths, from requiring communion to be distributed separately to black members by white lay leaders, to ending communion all together. Some church members and leaders who wanted to continue with an integrated communion were expelled from the church for a period of time.

Following Dr. Breen’s talk, Elon Cook, Program Director and Curator of the Center of Reconciliation spoke briefly about the CFR’s ongoing research into St. John's Cathedral’s historical connections to slave trade and slavery. She pointed out that three enslaved women are buried in St. John's cemetary. The church was built with the profits from the slave trade, either directly, or through ownership of textile mills, whose products were made from cotton harvested by slaves. Attendees then broke into small groups to discuss questions related to reconciliation today.

The CFR is planning other events in its new space in the ground floor of St. John's Cathedral early in 2018. Watch for further news!