For I Knew a Ship From Stem to Stern…And Could Talk Like Any Old Salt
November 15, 2012 at 5:30pm
Colony House, Washington Square
$5 per person, $1 NHS members
In 1774 the population of the colony of Rhode Island was 59,000, the majority of which obtained some of their living through maritime activity. While little documented in scholarship, African-American sailors—free and enslaved—crewed riverboats and whaling ships, and many of the merchant vessels embarked from the port cities of Bristol, Newport and Providence. While Rhode Island’s slave trafficking history is well-known, scant public knowledge exists regarding the black merchant seamen and whalemen who comprised a significant portion of America’s burgeoning commercial workforce, thus contributing to the first global economy. the 2011-2012 LaShonda Barnett, the Visiting Artist in Brown University’s Africana Studies Department, will analyze the contributions and experiences of African-American and Cape Verdean seamen and whalemen and the shape of racial thinking in late 18th-century Rhode Island’s maritime culture.
Ms. Barnett is writing a historical novel about an 18th century Rhode Island African-American ship captain and his multi-racial crew. Please RSVP to 401-841-8770.