Race in Civil War New England

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On May 14 Professor Elizabethada Wright of Rivier College will open the proceedings with the observation that Civil War monuments in New England make no reference to slavery, raising questions about white Yankee attitudes about abolition and race after the war. (Continued below)

 

The Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail will hold its 7^th annual spring symposium on Saturday, May 14, co-sponsored by the UNH Diversity Initiatives Program and the Seacoast African American Cultural Center.

Artist Daniel Minter of Portland, Maine, and Professor David Watters of the University of New Hampshire will join Dr. Wright in leading a panel discussion with the audience of what can be interpreted from the public memorials created by those who had the means to do so after the War Between the States.

Wright is a Professor of English and Communication at Rivier College in Nashua. Her publications include work on collective memory and nineteenth-century rhetoric.  She has presented at national and regional conferences, including the Black New England Conference and the National Council on Public History.

Liz Wright also is co-owner of a Portsmouth fair trade business and an enthusiastic supporter of the arts.

Daniel Minter’s paintings and sculptures have been exhibited both nationally and internationally at galleries and museums including the Seattle Art Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, Bates College, and the Meridian International Center.

Minter is the founding director and vice-president of Maine Freedom Trails, Inc. He created the markers for the Portland Freedom Trail, which identifies significant sites related to the abolitionist movement and the Underground Railroad in Portland, Maine.

Minter created the 2004 Kwanzaa stamp and the 2011 Kwanzaa stamp for the U.S. Postal Service. Recently, he served as Artist-In-Residence at Sapelo Island, Georgia, home to one of the last Geechee communities in the country.

David Watters is a Professor of English at UNH and he directs the Center for New England Culture. His publications include essays and books on American literature, early New England gravestone art, and African American literature. He is coeditor of The Encyclopedia of New England.

A member of the Board of Trustees, Watters has facilitated many of the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail's symposia and special events.

The symposium is open to the public from 9 AM – 2 PM at the Discover Portsmouth Center, 10 Middle St., at the corner of Islington St.

Pre-registration of $15 includes lunch. Call 603-431-2768.