"Slave Auction, Virginia," an 1862 painting by LeFevre Cranstone, is part of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture's "Determined" exhibition. (Image courtesy Virginia Museum of History & Culture)
The Virginia Museum of History & Culture’s massive exhibition “Determined: The 400-Year Struggle for Black Equality” traces African and African-American lives in Virginia. It’s a complicated history that takes time to tell. Curator of Exhibitions Karen Sherry, who joined the staff in 2017, headed the dozen-member advisory team that guided the process.
“We had to balance the importance of that history with what we could expect from the visitor in terms of their endurance and what knowledge they might bring to the presentation,” Sherry explains.
The exhibition seeks to demonstrate the myriad ways black people fought for freedom from enslavement, for equal justice under the law and against discrimination.
“Determined” is a legacy project of Virginia’s “American Evolution” commission, formed to commemorate the 400th anniversary of key historical events stemming from Virginia in 1619 that continue to influence the nation today. That year, the first Africans arrived in Jamestown; the General Assembly — Virginia’s legislature — formed; and 147 women joined Jamestown’s male settlers who had arrived in 1607, building permanency in the colony.
With the commemoration date of 1619 looming, the museum discerned how best to approach the subject. “Determined” features 100 objects and artifacts, but Sherry and her “brain trust” chose 30 individuals to put faces on complicated subjects from four centuries of culture and life.
One story that serves as an example of the era is that of Sam, who in 1688 led a Westmoreland County uprising that, rather than leading to freedom, caused him to be sentenced to wear a “punishment collar” or be killed. The museum doesn’t own such a device, but borrowed one from The African American Historical Society of Portsmouth. The “collar” is a headpiece made of iron, curved at the top with four spikes. The brutality of the collar raises Sam from 17th century court records and demonstrates the evolution of systematized enslavement within a century of African presence in Virginia.
Creating “Determined,” which runs through March 2020, involved casting a wide net, “and then reeling it in to see what you get,” Sherry explains. “It comes down to what’s available, what you may already have in the museum’s collection, what you hope to borrow."
The title is adapted from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” speech, delivered the night before his assassination in 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. “We are determined to gain our rightful place in God’s world.” he stated. “We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people.”
The June 22 opening includes the 11 a.m. dedication of Arthur Ashe Boulevard, with John Lewis, a Georgia Democrat and longtime civil rights activist. The free event occurs on the VMHC’s front lawn. Also complementing the exhibition are a series of talks and other events.
"Determined" continues through March 2020 at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
