The art of Carol Washington and her great-great-grandmother Isabel Tilly, along with the writings of Harriet Wilson, are on display in Hartford, Connecticut, at the Stowe Center’s newly opened Gallery for Hope and Freedom, examining centuries of American literature as a form of activism.
Tilly and Wilson were both formerly enslaved and moved to New Hampshire as indentured servants and wrote of their experiences through literary works.
Erika Slocumb, director of interpretation for the museum, said to mark Black History Month and the gallery’s opening, she looked at activism throughout centuries of American history and noted the struggle for freedom and the feeling of dread multiple ethnic and racial groups in America have faced.
“This struggle for freedom isn't exclusive to Black people,” Slocumb said. “It's not exclusive to women. It's not exclusive to immigrants or migrants. That we all . . . at some point or another, have hoped for a better freedom, a better future, for a better life, for ourselves, for our children, for our families.”
Slocumb started learning about Tilly while she was writing an article about her as a research scholar for Historic New England. Tilly’s great-great-granddaughter Carol Washington reached out to her.
“I won't say it wasn't the start of our connection, but over the past two years or so, we've kind of been pulling out her family genealogy, talking to some of her relatives,” Slocumb said. She met at Washington’s home, and eventually travelled to Portsmouth to visit Jackson House, where Tilly resided.
“She had all this beautiful art that she had made with textiles, with acrylic paint, shower curtains and quilts,” Slocumb said. “That to me really exemplified this idea of hope and freedom, which goes with the theme of our gallery.”
Tilly was brought to New Hampshire from Virginia at the age of 12, with the promise of an education. Instead, she found herself in a life of indentured servitude.
“When she got to Portsmouth, instead of receiving that education, she was actually put to work as a wash girl and told by the woman who brought her here from Richmond to go and find work.” Slocumb said. “When she did, she was kind of left to her own devices.”
Harriet Wilson’s writings about her life as an indentured servant are also featured in the exhibit at the Stowe Center. Wilson, like Tilly, wasn’t enslaved – though she wasn’t entirely free.
Massachusetts born Nancy Prince and Solomon Northup’s works are also in the gallery.
