BICENTENNIAL PARK IN MILFORD SITS OFF SOUTH STREET� CLOSE TO THE TOWN COMMONS--KNOWN LOCALLY AS THE OVAL.
AND IT'S RIGHT NEXT TO THE RIVER.
SO FAR THIS PARK IS HOME TO A FLAGPOLE, SOME BENCHES� AND ON OCCASION, GEESE, HERON AND DUCKS.
BUT A YEAR FROM NOW, THE PARK WILL ALSO BE HOME TO A 10 FOOT STATUE OF HARRIET WILSON.
WILSON WAS BORN AND GREW UP HERE IN THE MID 19th CENTURY.
T7 5:50 Fern: what you�ll see is set of granite steps, Harriet ascending the steps wearing long skirt, a top with apron, and lace-up boots. Behind her will be her young son at age 5�
ARTIST FERN CUNNINGHAM SUBMITTED HER DESIGN FOR THE BRONZE SCULPTURE AND WON.
T7 6:00ish Fern: she�s gesturing forward with the other hand holding an open book, with a hole in one of pages, what�s cut out is coming down as a mobile, there are bronze rods descend from the book that make music as wind blows.
T10 0:36 JerriAnne: when we called for submissions we asked for something special, something that made sound representing her voice, that it would always be heard, and not disappear like the years it took to bring her book back to attention�
JerriAnne BOGGIS FOUNDED THE NONPROFIT GROUP RAISING MONEY TO BUILD THE STATUE.
SHE HAD LIVED IN MILFORD FOR 23 YEARS BEFORE SHE FOUND OUT THAT HARRIET WILSON HAD LIVED THERE TOO�
�AND THAT WILSON IS RECOGNIZED AS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN TO PUBLISH A NOVEL IN THE UNITED STATES.
T10 2:15 JerriAnne: there was no mention of her anywhere in the state� so it was �wow, if we don�t raise attention of her, she can go forgotten again, another 100 years� before we know� that there was this woman who lived here, and wrote about her experience here.�
WILSON WAS BORN HARRIET ADDAMS IN MILFORD IN 1825.
ABANDONED AT AGE 7 SHE BECAME A SERVANT FOR A PROMINENT FAMILY IN TOWN.
D2 T9 10:20 JerriAnne: we don�t know her story in detail, but you can walk down a street and say, �oh, maybe Harriet Wilson walked down this street�� [cut to 10:14] It really does change your perception of the town� it�s like living with history every day.
WILSON EVENTUALLY MARRIED AND HAD A SON.
IN HER MID-THIRTIES, SHE WROTE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL
THE BOOK IS CALLED �OUR NIG� AND IT TELLS THE STORY OF A YOUNG BLACK GIRL WHO IS ABUSED AND OVERWORKED BY THE WHITE FAMILY SHE SERVES, UNTIL HER HEALTH FAILS.
THE MANUSCRIPT WAS PUBLISHED IN 1859, BUT IT DISAPEARED UNTIL IT WAS DISCOVERED BY A GRADUATE STUDENT IN A NEW YORK BOOKSTORE 120 YEARS LATER AND REPUBLISHED IN 1983.
THAT STUDENT WAS - NOW HARVARD PROFESSOR HENRY LOUIS GATES JUNIOR.
GATES SAYS THE BOOK'S DISAPPEARANCE HAD A LOT TO DO WITH ITS ORIGINAL AUDIENCE�
BACK THEN THE COUNTRY WAS STARTING TO TAKE AN INTEREST IN BLACK NARRATIVE.
BUT MOST READERS WERE NOT INTERESTED IN A CULTURAL CRITIQUE.
HG1 They wanted a critique of slavery in the south, not racism in the north, and so the book just died, it died on the vine...
WILSON WROTE THE BOOK WITH THE EXPRESSED PURPOSE OF MAKING MONEY TO TAKE HER SON OUT OF FOSTER CARE.
BUT RESEARCHERS WORKING TO FILL IN THE BLANKS OF WILSON�S LIFE SAY SHE PROBABLY HAD A LARGER AGENDA.
GABRIELLE FOREMAN RESEARCHED AND EDITED THE LATEST EDITION OF WILSON�S BOOK.
GF3 (:19) We�re not sure it was only to make money � although that was a principal goal of hers � but she was also, we think, invested in telling her story and finding power to define herself and her circumstances.
SO WILSON MAY HAVE BEEN OFFERING COMMENTARY ON HER LIFE AS A BLACK SERVANT IN A TOWN KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN AN ABOLITIONIST STRONHOLD.
AND PROFESSOR GATES BELIEVES THAT NOT ONLY IS TODAY'S SOCIETY READY TO HEAR THAT STORY, BUT PEOPLE ARE READY TO RECOGNIZE HARRIET WILLSON.
HG2 (0:21) This is the 1st black woman novelist in any language, and we've now been able to flesh out her story, we have a whole picture of Harriet Wilson from her birth in the 1820s to her death at the turn of the century, that is SOOO exciting. HW is the mother of the African American novelist tradition, and that's an important place in African American literary history.
ARTISTS WHO WERE INTERESTED IN SUBMITTING DESIGNS FOR THE WILSON STATUE TO FIRST READ HER BOOK.
SCULPTOR CUNNINGHAM SAYS WILSON�S PROSE PAINTED A STRONG PICTURE OF WHO SHE WAS.
AND THAT'S THE ONLY PICTURE CUNNINGHAM HAS TO GO BY SINCE THERE ARE NO KNOWN PHOTOS OF HARRIET WILSON.
T6 2:06 Fern: I�m going with her personality, her own description of herself. She said she was quite beautiful (laughs) [cut to T7 9:45] this girl is never thinking of herself as descending anything. There�s nothing in her personality that thinks, here I go down into doldrums� you know� this is it for me, this is the end, she�s just not built that way�
CUNNINGHAM SAYS ONCE SHE HAD AN IDEA OF WHO HARRIET WILSON WAS, SHE LOOKED FOR INSPIRATION IN THE HIGH SCHOOL WHERE SHE TEACHES ART.
SHE SAYS SHE FOUND IT IN ONE OF HER 9TH GRADE STUDENTS.
T7 0:30 Fern: I would like you to meet Mercy Bell this is a fabulous young girl I�ve been teaching�
T7 0:48 Mercy: this project blew me away when I heard� [cut to 1:00] what an incredible story� a lot of her personality traits really did match mine � the independence, definitely I�d like to say outspoken, I�ve always had a voice � something I�m very proud of.
BOGGIS SAYS SHE CAN ALREADY IMAGINE HOW IT WILL LOOK IN THAT PERFECT SPOT SET ASIDE IN BICENTENNIAL PARK.
T18 3:33 JerriAnne: you�ll be able to see it as soon as you get to the entrance to the gardens, there�ll be gardens on either side left and right, old fashioned picket fence running the length of whole park� right smack dab in middle, with gorgeous trees kind of forming a canopy over the statue, and water rolling right down behind the statue, you�ll be able to see this 10 foot bronze piece with a woman holding a book out, chimes underneath it, it�ll just be so powerful.
MAYBE POWERFUL ENOUGH TO PLACE A CHAPTER ON HARRIET WILSON IN THE STORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE., MORE THAN A CENTURY AFTER HER DEATH.
T18 0:08 JerriAnne: Harriet Wilson is just one of the forgotten people of color in the state � we have lots of buildings and bridges, monuments, parks named for important white people � ours will be first monument acknowledging the importance, historically and socially, of a person of color for the state of NH.
THE HARRIET WILSON PROJECT PLANS TO UNVEIL THE STATUE IN MILFORD NEXT SPRING.
THE GROUP ALSO HAS SEVERAL LONG TERM GOALS, INCLUDING PLACING WILSON'S NOVEL ON THE STATE'S HIGH SCHOOL READING LIST.
WILSON'S GOAL FOR HER BOOK WENT UNMET � ITS PUBLICATION NEVER PRODUCED THE INCOME SHE HOPED FOR.
BUT IN A PREFACE TO THE STORY, SHE WROTE OF ANOTHER HOPE...
WILSON ASKED THAT SHE NOT BE CONDEMNED FOR ATTEMPTING TO BE SCHOLARLY, WISHING INSTEAD THAT PUBLISHING THE BOOK WOULD PRODUCE � QUOTE � A FAITHFUL BAND OF SUPPORTERS AND DEFENDERS.
IT'S CLEAR TODAY THAT HER WORDS HAVE EARNED HER THAT LEGACY, AND INSTEAD OF PROFITS, A PLACE IN HISTORY.
FOR NHPR NEWS, I'M SM IN MILFORD.
