Join the John Brown House Museum, a museum of the Rhode Island Historical Society, on Monday, June 16th, at 5:30pm, for a talk Dr. Christy Clark-Pujara on her book Dark Work: The Business of Slavery in Rhode Island, the inspiration for the John Brown House Museum exhibit Rhode Island and the Business of Slavery. Slavery as an institution directly affected the experiences and realities of Black freedom throughout the first century of the United States. Dr. Clark-Pujara will present on Rhode Island’s key role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade, from the historic docks, farms, and textile factories to the themes of Black resistance, the fight for freedom, and striving to build a community in a racially hostile colony and state.
A historian of colonial and early-19th century U.S. history, Dr. Clark-Pujara’s research examines the neglected and unexplored histories of African Americans in areas that historians have not sufficiently examined—specifically small towns and cities in the North and Midwest. Her work contends that the full dimensions of the African American and American experience cannot be fully appreciated without reference to how Black people managed their lives in places where they lived in small numbers—like early Rhode Island. She is currently Chair of the Department of African American Studies and Professor of African American Studies and History at the University of Wisconsin—Madison.
Doors open at 4:30pm for a complimentary reception and book signing along with the opportunity to view the Dark Work exhibit. Admission costs $10 per person, and $5 for RIHS members. Tickets are available here.