Subject (Topic)
Anti-slavery movements--United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Slave insurrections--South Carolina--Charleston
Slave revolt--South Carolina--Charleston
Slavery--South Carolina
South Carolina--History
Subject (Name)
Vesey, Denmark, 1767-1822
Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture
The work is dedicated to Denmark Vesey, a carpenter and self-educated black man who planned one of the most extensive slave revolt in U.S. history in Charleston, SC in 1822. Vesey, elegantly dressed in a collared jacket, trousers, and an exceedingly long and slim cravat, is shown holding his carpentry bag, his hat, and his Bible. The figure stands atop a massive granite pedestal that is inscribed on two sides with biographical and historical information about Vesey and his vital contributions to the fight for the emancipation of black people.
Inscription on front of black granite plinth:
Denmark Vesey
Slave Rebellion Organizer
Born Circa 1767-July 2, 1822
Denmark Vesey, previously named Telemaque, was born either in Africa or on the Caribbean island of St. Thomas. At the age of 14, he was purchased by the slave trader Captain Joseph Vesey and transported to the French Colony of St. Domingue, where the young African was sold along with 389 other slaves. Claimed to be suffering from epilepsy by his new owner, Denmark was returned to Captain Vesey.
The young man accompanied Captain Vesey on many trading voyages as part of the crew. In 1873, immediately after the American Revolution, Captain Vesey relocated to Charleston, South Carolina, where Denmark continued to serve him for approximately another 17 years. In 1799, however, Denmark won $1,500 in the East Bay Street Lottery in Charleston and purchased his freedom for $600.
Denmark Vesey was a highly skilled carpenter and well known within free black and slave society. According to his contemporaries, he harbored frustration at his inability to legally free his wife and children. His antislavery sentiments may have received a wider audience when in 1818 enslaved and free black Charlestonians established a branch of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church where he served as a church leader.
Vesey envisioned a community where all would be free , but recently planned state legislation of 1820 made legal emancipation of slaves nearly impossible. Furthermore, municipal authorities repeated attacks on the AME Church convinced Vesey slavery was such a violation of God's law that rebellion was necessary to obtain liberty. He placed his own life at risk as he dared to plan to recruit others to achieve the goal of freedom.
Inscription on back of black granite plinth:
Denmark Vesey
Vesey and his lieutenants "Gullah" Jack Pritchard, Peter Poyas, and Monday Gell developed a plan for a revolt, which may have involved thousands of followers. Their war of liberation was originally planned for July 14, 1822, and called for conspirators to seize weapons and set fires around the city. Once reinforced by rural slaves, as many as possible were to escape to Haiti where African people had already abolished slavery and formed an independent nation. According to Congregational minister and abolitionist Thomas Wentworth Higginson, the plan was "the most elaborate insurrectionary project ever formed by American slaves."
When two slaves informed the authorities of the plot, the conspirators tried to move the date to June 16, but their plan failed. Arrests and trials followed and beginning on July 2, 1822, two days before Independence Day, Vesey and 34 of his compatriots were hanged. This figure represents the greatest number of slave conspiracy-related executions in American history. 37 were banished, most outside the United States, and four whites were briefly fined and incarcerated for for sympathizing with the conspirators. To strenghten security, officials demolished the AME Church, and the state legislature imposed rigorous new laws, including the Negro Seaman Act subjecting free black sailors from outside the state to arrest when their ships docked in Carolina ports. Free black men were required to have white guardians, and those who left the state were barred from returning. By the mid-1820s, the city fortified itself with an arsenal and barracks. In 1842, the Military College of South Carolina, now known as the "The Citadel," was established on that same site.
Despite the daunting opposition, Vesey's Spirit and liberating vision did not die. He became an inspiring symbol of freedom for later abolitionists including David Walker, John Brown, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. His resolve demonstrates the timeless universality of men and women's desire for freedom and justice irrespective of race, creed, condition, or color.
Round sign on side of black granite plinth:
Charleston Stories
Hear Denmark Vesey here
Completing the Story:
Bringing a Community Together
www.charlestonstories.org
History calls back
Parker, Parker, "Denmark Vesey Monument Unveiled before Hundreds." Post and Courier, February 14, 2014. Accessed April 12, 2019, https://www.postandcourier.com/features/arts_and_travel/denmark-vesey-monument-unveiled-before-hundreds/article_35622532-8a45-5060-a819-0e33a47c8a20.html.
Mellnik, Ted. "The Remarkable History of Charleston's Racial Divide, As Told by the City's Silent Statues." Washington Post, June 24, 2015. Accessed April 12, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/24/the-remarkable-history-of-charlestons-racial-divide-as-told-by-the-citys-silent-statues/.
"Denmark Vesey Monument." Charleston Justice Journey. Accessed May 27, 2020, https://charlestonjusticejourney.org/locations/denmark-vesey-monument/.
"Denmark Vesey, Hampton Park." Charleston Stories. Accessed May 27, 2020, http://charlestonstories.org/statues/Denmark-Vesey/.
Wright, Deborah and Daron Calhoun. "Remember Denmark Vesey of Charleston!" Avery Messenger (Summer 2014): 6-8. Accessed May 27, 2020, https://avery.cofc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/messenger_springsummer2014.pdf.
Subject (Topic)
Abolitionists--United States
Antislavery movements--United States
Middle Atlantic states
Public art
Public sculpture
Slave trade
Slavery-Emancipation
Subject (Name)
Edmonson, Emily, 1835–1895
Edmonson, Mary, 1832–1853
Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture
Two young women emerge from a large rocky outcrop, their hands clasped tightly as they stride forward. The over life-sized work depicts the abolitionists and former slaves, the sisters Mary and Emily Edmonson. The statue is located on the site of the former Joseph Bruin’s slave jail, where the sisters were held after a failed attempt to escape from Washington, D.C. in 1848 on the ship Pearl. On the back of the sculpture is an etching of the ship Pearl.
Inscription on the work's base:
The Edmonson Sisters
Erik Blome
Sculptor
© 2010
Assisted by C. Blome
On the obverse of the memorial, Blome included a low relief of the schooner, Pearl.
"Slavery and Freedom, Embodied." Alexandria Times, May 27, 2010. Accessed May 27, 2020, https://alextimes.com/2010/05/slavery-and-freedom-embodied/.
Heid, Markham. "Alexandria Dedicats Sculpture Honoring Edmonson Sisters." Washington Examiner, June 24, 2010. Accessed May 27, 2020, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/alexandria-dedicates-sculpture-honoring-edmonson-sisters.
"Edmonson Sisters." Public Art Archive. Accessed May 27, 2020, https://locate.publicartarchive.org/art/Edmonson-Sisters?ib=ext.
The memorial stands on the site of the New Haven jail, where Pieh and the other Amistad Africans were held during their trials. The three sides of the sculpture depict the life of Pieh: the first side shows him as a young man in Africa; the second side depicts his court trials, and the third side shows Pieh after he won his freedom. A fourth side of the sculpture, only visible from the upper floors of City Hall, includes images of disembodied hands emerging from ocean waves, a reminder of the thousands who perished during the Middle Passage. Pieh's famous courtroom statement, "make us free" is inscribed on the work’s granite base. The memorial rests atop a squared platform, which was inserted into a purpose-built recessed space added to City Hall during a 1990 renovation.
]]>Subject (Topic)
Abolitionists--United States
Amistad Mutiny
Anti-slavery movements--United States
Northeastern United States
Public art
Public sculpture
Slave insurrections
Slave trade
Slavery--United States
Subject (Name)
Pieh, Sengbe (Joseph Cinque), ca. 1814-ca. 1879
Subject (Object Type)
Commemorative sculpture
The Amistad Memorial centers around a large bronze triangular prism adorned with sculptural reliefs, depicting scenes from the life of Sengbe Pieh. In 1839 Pieh led a revolt of abducted Africans against their captors on the Spanish slave ship, the Amistad. The Amistad was seized off the coast of Long Island, NY, by the U.S. brig, Washington and the Africans on board were imprisoned on charges of murder. The case went to the US Supreme Court, where Pieh and his fellow Africans were found to have rightfully defended themselves as they were free individuals, having been kidnapped and transported illegally.
The memorial stands on the site of the New Haven jail, where Pieh and the other Amistad Africans were held during their trials. The three sides of the sculpture depict the life of Pieh: the first side shows him as a young man in Africa; the second side depicts his court trials, and the third side shows Pieh after he won his freedom. A fourth side of the sculpture, only visible from the upper floors of City Hall, includes images of disembodied hands emerging from ocean waves, a reminder of the thousands who perished during the Middle Passage. Pieh's famous courtroom statement, "make us free" is inscribed on the work’s granite base. The memorial rests atop a squared platform, which was inserted into a purpose-built recessed space added to City Hall during a 1990 renovation.
Inscription on base:
This monument is a memorial to the 1839 Amistad Revolt and its leader, Sengbe Pieh, also known as Joseph Cinque. Sengbe Pieh was one of the millions of Africans kidnapped from their homes and transported in bondage to the Americas. Sold into slavery in Cuba, he and forty-eight other men, and four children were bound aboard the schooner La Amistad. During a storm, Sengbe Pieh successfully freed himself and his fellows. The Africans seized the ship, but their offers to steer La Amistad homeward were thwarted. After futile weeks at sea, they were captured off Long Island by the U.S.S. Washington.
Inscription on base:
On this site, the Amistad Africans were jailed awaiting trial for piracy and murder. To aid their struggle for freedom, the Amistad Committee formed, counting in its number ministers Simeon Jocelyn, Joshua Leavitt, and James Pennington; merchant Lewis Tappan; professor Josiah Gibbs; and lawyer Roger Baldwin. The Africans were tried twice prior to their ultimate triumph before the United States Supreme Court, where former President John Quincy Adams courageously defended them. Sengbe Pieh and his fellows were declared Free Persons.
Inscription on base:
"Make Us Free"
The Africans sought to return home. To raise funds for their voyage and to further the anti-slavery cause, they engaged in a series of speaking tours. In 1841, after a sojourn that profoundly influenced the abolitionist movement, they set sail, free at last.
To commemorate the heroism of the Amistad Africans and those who shared in their quest for freedom, the 1989 Amistad Committee commissioned his sculpture by Ed Hamilton and dedicated it on September 26, 1992.
Hernandez, Esteban. "New Haven to Celebrate 175th Anniversary of Amistad, the Slave Ship that Led to Freedom." New Haven Register. Accessed April 12, 2019, https://www.nhregister.com/connecticut/article/New-Haven-to-celebrate-175th-anniversary-of-11338269.php.
"Our Public Art Collection." Department of Arts, Culture, and Tourism, City of New Haven. Accessed May 27, 2020, https://www.newhavenct.gov/gov/depts/arts/public_art/public_art_collection.htm.
"The Amistad Memorial." Amistad Committe, Inc. Accessed May 27, 2020, https://www.amistadcommitteeinc.org/amistad-memorial.