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Event:Three

Page history last edited by Yvette 11 years, 12 months ago

Event:Three

 


 

Event:Performance Peace -Our Story

 

 

Black history, as well as that of other minority groups like the Catawba tribe, has not been included in the Historical Museum or recognized by the Historical Society in Fairfield County prior to the initiative of a one volunteer historian, my Aunt Yvette, who has provided me with the historical research needed for this part of the project. In support of her Historical Preservation Initiative working to right this, this Event will seek to assist with Funding support that is needed to replace support compromised by what some see as this contraversial inclusion. The church referenced (Calvary Presbyterian Church) in Richardson's biographical sketch is the church my Grandma Lottie and family in Winsboro have been members of since the very early days.

 

This biographical information within it's historical context will be the inspiration for an original Performance Art:Piece to be performed at a location that has yet to be determined. It is also planned that it will be integrated in the digital/internet Art:Work that will unite these diverse components both online and offline exhibitions. The resulting project will be inclusive, benefiting and including the community in general. However, because of the lack of inclusion previously of the history of those from minority/oppressed groups special attention will go towards supporting their cultural preservation initiatives.

 

Creation and Performance of an Art:Piece inspired by my family's history in South Carolina.

 

 

Both my maternal and paternal family origin emerges from South Carolina. I know very little at this point about my maternal bloodlines there, so that is a story for another project. However because of my Grandma Lottie and Aunt Yvette's interest in culture and history i know a bit more about my paternal familial connections.

 

My great great grandmother, Alice Fife came from Chester to Winnsboro after the Civil War when slavery ended. We know her mother was Winnie _ and that her father was "over seer Jim". When her mother married after the war she was sent to live with a woman in Chester. From there she became a midwife and practiced with a doctor in Winnsboro, where because of segregation she could not attend births across the color line. Aside from her own family she did not attend the births of black families.

 

She had three children. One died in childhood, one moved away to the Niagra Falls area, and another was to become my great grandfather, John F. McDowell. His father William McDowell served in the State House of Representatives during Reconstruction. Unfortunately, the Jim Crow status quo that followed would undo that progress and leave a gaping hole in the soul of a nation.

 

John McDowell married Lottie Ellison and they had ten children, one of whom was my Grandma Lottie. My father was named for her brother Herbert when she married Arthur Howard (from Georgetown, S.C. after he returned from WWII). I was named after Yvette, one of her five children: Joan (deceased), Milton, Arthur (deceased), Herbert (deceased), Raymond and Yvette.

 

Although i myself am not a member of a church, i do have deep respect for the role that some early churches played in the abolition and later the civil rights movements.

 

One connection that touches my families history in South Carolina is this....a historical figure who played a vital part in Fairfield County-Winsoboro, S.C.,THE REVEREND WILLARD RICHARDSON , the man who started one of the first schools for free blacks after the Civil War. He was connected to the church my family in Winnsboro has attended for generations.

 

Encountering a Southern Confederate

During my visit to document and collect images and inspiration for this piece i spent some time volunteering at the history museum. One day i was singing "Carolina in my mind" with my eldest son as we discussed a childhood recollection of learning the song. ____ ___ (who described themselves as a liberal) entered the room and asked where i had learned the song. I shared that i had learned it in music class as child, around first grade. We had an exchange about whether James Taylor was from North Carolina where i grew up. This person is part of a group that gathers to dress in antebellum attire to celebrate the "good ole days of the South" when they owned slaves and could enjoy the charm of watching them toil in the fields under relentless brutality and dehumanization. I remain baffled by what there is to celebrate in that history or the people who participated in it as those who exploited and attempted to break the spirit (through institutionalize racism) of those shackled by slavery and later Jim Crow. Today the land that was once worked by slaves has been divided between the five children in that family (approx. 250 acres each). Hmm....i wonder if they ever think about the people who did not benefit from the generations of working that land under oppression that denied their very personhood...how deeply did they consider the impact it had on their descendents?

 

If not, then what does it mean to be a "liberal" in this region (southeast) or in this nation?

 

This person went on to tell a story of learning "a darkie" song when in school in the 1950's. This person smiled while singing this song that was about eating 'possum in what felt like a condescending dialect , the person sang the song lyrics..."suckin' dem bones..." I was stunned silent for a second and someone else entered stopping the song that to me felt like someone had smacked me with a smile on their face.

What year was this?

 

The following week i got an email from ____ ___ expressing an apology which we accepted. My first reaction was hopefulness, perhaps this was a clear sign of progress? But i still had my questions that i could not dare utter because that would certainly be perceived as rude....and these questions desired answers.

 

Perhaps this is a dialogue we have through the language of art....

healing is possible.

 

Peace is a choice.

 

Update April 2012

The Fairfield Oral History Project got more attention and acclaim in the region, it provoked a strong negative opposition. The intensity of "passive" resistance  and the stereotypical confederate presence both intensified to create an unwelcoming environment.

Historical records are routinely trashed because the history of some people has been deemed of no value. On a more practical note, this has provided a challenges for researchers seeking to trace property records, burial records, etc.

Reminding me of why this project has to move forward.

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This is an example representing how the history of people from different cultural legacies are interconnected and sometimes clash.

Demonstrating why historical preservation that includes multiple perspectives and experiences is vital to understanding the path followed to reach the present...and consideration of how it can honestlyand progressively inform the future.

 

This piece will introduce the ICT system to create an online cultural repository within the envisioned 3D environment (as well as a more static form-based on the Phase1 site, for those with low speed connections). The result is intended to create a kind of online cultural museum and research center that is both a public service and a collaborative work of art.

 

Idea for exploration in the development of this project is the difference between heritage and culture.

 

Ending Slavery Today

The artist doing this oral traditions piece from the perspective of the man's wife, will be written and performed by Lorraine Stone of M'zume to create another Event in the States that will benefit the Fairfield County Preservation Initiative. This original piece will start with history and move into the present to educate and illuminate the Abolition movement today. Yes Anti-Slavery movements that end this practice are still needed today!**

 

American  Anti-Slavery Group

Free The Slaves

Anti-Slavery

 

This Event will be linked to the one in _____ regardless of the time difference in when they take place. The internet will be the bridge employed to bring the Events together to create another Multimedia and Installation Art:Work Event. i'd like to link that Performance:Event to an Art:Reception in _______. The idea is to explore how this approach creates a sense of place that is not defined by geography, time or shared space.

 

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