New Exhibit at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Museum highlights the creations, contributions, and legacies of African Americans as they fought for freedom from the earliest calls for American independence and beyond.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Museum is proud to announce its new exhibition, "Fighting for Freedom: Black Craftspeople and the Pursuit of Independence," co-curated by the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive. This exhibition seeks to embrace the stories of all those who pursued independence by centering on the lives and experiences of Black craftspeople and artisans from the 18th and 19th centuries. The exhibit will be on view from March 29 to December 31, 2025.
This exhibition highlights the creations, contributions, and legacies of African Americans as they fought for freedom from the earliest calls for American independence and beyond. "Fighting for Freedom" spans the war years of the American Revolution through the present, as African Americans sought to pursue agency and liberty through craft. The underpinning idea of African American craft as a catalyst for freedom-seeking displays itself in a host of ways in this exhibition, encompassing furniture, metals, ceramics, textiles, art, tools, and personal accessories.
The Founders' cries for liberty from tyranny and oppression resonated with African Americans and were embraced by Black craftspeople, both free and enslaved.
"The petitions of the Founding Fathers, while enslaving tens of thousands of people, were heard by Black people, and inspired them in their quest for freedom as well," states Dr. Tiffany Momon, exhibition co-curator and founder of the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive. "Our hope is that visitors will see just how important those cries for liberty were to Black craftspeople and how they pursued it, despite being marginalized, by creating and passing down craftsmanship generation to generation."
"Fighting for Freedom" features more than 50 objects from public and private lenders and includes items made by both free and enslaved craftspeople. With artifacts from the 18th, 19th, and 21st centuries, this exhibition tells the stories of countless known and unnamed figures whose skills and commitment created not only objects but independence in many forms. Examples of Black craftsmanship in the exhibit include:
- Revolving wooden table made by John Hemmings for Thomas Jefferson's use at Polar Forest in 1811. On loan courtesy of the Thomas Jefferson's Monticello Foundation
- Landscape of Lookout Mountain and Moccasin Bend by itinerant painter Robert Duncanson from 1855, depicting a location where self-emancipated people crossed the Tennessee River for freedom in the North. On loan courtesy of Michael and Julie Meyer.
- Silver coffeepot, 1742-1768, from the shop of Alexander Petrie in Charleston, South Carolina, likely made by Abraham the silversmith. On loan from the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA).
- Modern quilt back chair made in the style of Richard Poynor by artisan Robell Awake to honor his legacy and push back against craft histories that ignored Black makers.
The exhibit will be accompanied by a variety of educational programs, including monthly virtual lectures, weekly family craft activities, and an annual symposium. Details can be found at: http://www.dar.org/museumevents. Most will be free and available to the public.
To accompany the new "Fighting for Freedom" exhibit at the DAR Museum is an official exhibition catalog with rich historic information. This publication features 10 essays by leading historians, museum curators, and material culture scholars and more than 70 color photographs of Black artistry, including paintings, metalwork, woodwork, pottery, and furniture, the official comprehensive catalog vividly illustrates how Black men and women persistently sought tangible expressions of liberty which have endured as symbols of their creators' legacies in the ongoing struggle for freedom.
"'Fighting for Freedom' powerfully asserts that Black skill and craft, embodied in objects, architecture, and landscapes, should be acknowledged and celebrated as an essential part of American history," said Catharine Dann Roeber, Director of Academic Affairs and Brock W. Jobe Professor of Decorative Arts and Material Culture Winterthur Museum Library and Garden.
The "Fighting for Freedom" catalog can be pre-ordered at the DAR Museum shop or online at https://shop.dar.org/dar-museum-shop/. Select objects from the exhibition will travel to select locations through 2028 after it closes at the DAR Museum on December 31, 2025. See schedule below.
Presented in Partnership With the Following Lenders:
American Folk Art Museum
Charleston Museum
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
George Washington Foundation
George Washington's Mount Vernon
Historic New Orleans Collection
Luzerne County Historical Society
Menokin Foundation
Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts
Museum of Fine Art, Houston
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Tennessee State Museum
Thomas Jefferson's Monticello
Travel Locations:
North Carolina Museum of Art(Winter/Spring 2026)
Gibbes Museum of Art(Summer 2026-Spring 2027)
Historic New Orleans Collection (Summer/Fall 2027)
Tennessee State Museum (Winter/Spring 2028)
Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (Summer/Fall 2028)
Exhibition show dates at each site are forthcoming.
For more information, please visit the DAR Museum website at https://www.dar.org/museum/exhibitions/current-exhibition-1 or contact Sarah Kirspel at [email protected]
About the Black Craftspeople Digital Archive
The Black Craftspeople Digital Archive seeks to enhance what we know about Black craftspeople by telling both a spatial story and a historically informed story that highlights the lives of Black craftspeople and the objects they produced. The archive includes more than 900 craftspeople entries, over 100 archival documents and more than 40 trade categories. The archive may be accessed at https://blackcraftspeople.org/
About the DAR Museum
The DAR Museum, located in the NSDAR Headquarters, collects, preserves, and interprets objects used and created in American homes. Using the lens of the varied interpretations of home, we inspire conversations about the diverse American experience encouraging people to discover common ground.
Free and open to the public, Monday - Friday, 8:30 am to 4:00 pm and Saturday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, closed Sundays, federal holidays and for street closures and inclement weather, the DAR Museum is a decorative arts museum. It collects furnishings, ceramics, glass, textiles, and household items that were made and used in America through the early 20th century. The Museum showcases 31 period rooms (each arranged to look like a different time and place in American history) through guided tours, a main gallery with an exhibit that changes annually accessible anytime during open hours, and a study gallery where visitors can get close to the museum objects. The exhibition is available during open hours and does not require a reservation. Guided Explorations of the Period Rooms can be scheduled on Dar.org/museum.
Media Contact
Bren Landon, Daughters of the American Revolution, (202) 572-0563, [email protected], https://www.dar.org/
SOURCE Daughters of the American Revolution
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