April is National Poetry Month! Jupiter Hammon, who is considered to be the first published African American poet, was born into slavery on Lloyd Neck in 1711. Six of his poems and three of his essays are known to us today. With the power of the pen, Hammon asserted his identity despite living within a system that sought to deny him his humanity. 🖋️
The Revolutionary War was drawing to a close when Hammon authored “A Winter Piece” while still in exile in Hartford, Connecticut in 1782. This particular copy eventually became the possession of Henry Packer Dering, the collector of customs of Sag Harbor, who signed his name on the title page. The evangelical sermon, however, was directed towards a Black audience. Across many of his writings, Hammon promoted a moral uplift philosophy, arguing that by adhering to Christian values, free and enslaved people of African descent could rise up and assert themselves as a people within American society.
This copy of “A Winter Piece,” on loan from @easthamptonlibrary, is now on view as part of the exhibition, “Voices and Votes: Democracy in America!” See it Thursdays through Sundays, 10 AM to 4:30 PM at our Exhibition Gallery in Cold Spring Harbor! 🇺🇸
📝: Jupiter Hammon (1711–ca. 1806). “A Winter Piece,” Hartford, Connecticut, 1782. East Hampton Libray, The Long Island Collection.
#poetrymonth #voicesandvotes #agoranewyork #jupiterhammon @nysmusems
... See MoreSee Less
- likes 10
- Shares: 2
- Comments: 0
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Today is Cherish an Antique Day! To celebrate, we're sharing this creamware soup plate made in England for the American market following the Revolutionary War.
Did you know that at the first joint session of the US Congress, held at Federal Hall in Manhattan, one of the primary orders of business was the certification of George Washington's presidential election? Debates swiftly ensued over how to address the commander in chief of the new United States. During the Revolution, General Washington was often referred to as “His Excellency”—as seen on this transfer-printed soup plate. The Senate initially proposed the title “His Highness the President of the United States of America and Protector of their Liberties,” feeling it would enhance the president’s respectability abroad. In the end, Congress decided that the simplicity of “Mr. President” was more in line with the Republican values of a government “by the people.”
See this object and other pieces from our collection on view as part of the current exhibition, "Voices and Votes: Democracy in America," open Thursday through Sunday from 10 AM to 4:30 PM at our Exhibition Gallery in Cold Spring Harbor!
🥣: Soup plate, Liverpool or Staffordshire, England, 1785-95. Refined earthenware (creamware), 9.25 x 9.25 in. Preservation Long Island, gift of Bertha Rose, 1977.5.
#cherishanantiqueday #ceramics #creamware #staffordshire #voicesandvotes #agoranewyork
... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook