When we talk about marking the landscape as an act of remembrance, we are referring to walking in the footsteps of the people and events that happened in that specific location decades, centuries, and in some cases, millennials, before us; exactly in the places our ancestors once stood, fought, and often died for our right to stand there now. Markers represent a different type of time capsule, one that all of us can appreciate and learn from and are typically free public works of art and commemoration.
Markers have also come to symbolize our country’s dark and complex past. Many markers were erected by privately funded groups for political, not historical, reasons; their plaques were erroneously depicted to veil (as in opaquely) the true occurrences that happened there; or at least not to tell the entire story. As an example, NPR reported in a story last year that 70% of markers in the South that mention plantations, do not mention slavery; even though the landowners whom the markers commemorate were well-known to have earned their fortunes off the backs of enslaved people. The NPR study revealed that “more than 500 plantation markers in the South describe the Confederacy in glowing terms, vilify the Union, falsify the reasons for the war, or recast the Confederate soldiers as the war’s true heroes.” And yet they still stand there telling only part of the story.
As Rhode Islanders, we need to educate people on what really happened here. In 2019, I founded the non-profit organization Rhode Island Slave History Medallions (www.rishm.org) to right some of these wrongs or at least make reparations and correct the record for the Ocean State, where my family has lived since 1882.
RISHM’s soul effigy carving is inspired by West Africa and Egypt
As a child, I played among the gravestones in God’s Little Acre, an historic burial ground for enslaved and free Africans which is just off Farewell Street. Upon returning from Africa as a young man, I noticed the winged cherubs carved on the burial markers there and learned that these were symbols: “soul effigies” carved in stone to represent the human soul on its journey from Earth back to the Heavens, on the wings of angels.
Later I learned that the first soul effigy carved in Newport was an act of defiance, as well as an act of remembrance. In 1768, enslaved stone mason Pompe Stevens carved and signed his name onto the gravestone of his brother Cuffe Gibbs, thereby claiming his family’s African identity at a time when people of color had no rights; not even rights to their own children and families.
Later while in Egypt, I often saw images of the soul effigy cherub with outspread wings that symbolized Ma’at, the Egyptian goddess of truth, justice, balance and order. In fact, these images represented Egyptian religious beliefs, and those civil liberties were exactly what our enslaved and freed Black colonial ancestors believed to be rightfully theirs too. These powerful winged figures became my inspiration for RISHM’s carved bronze medallions.
Why it’s even more important to mark these locations in Rhode Island
Historians will tell you that Rhode Island’s port city merchants and early civic and religious leaders were among the wealthiest benefactors of the Triangle Trade, which was the economic engine of the 17th & 18th centuries in the original colonies. In fact, 70% of slave voyages began here in Rhode Island. At RISHM, we aim to un-varnish the varnished truth of these errors and omissions from our collective history and base all our interactive bronze and granite markers and medallions on fact-based historical research. We work with historians, Ph.D.’s, educators and academics to discover and research these stories and people so we can bring awareness to your streets and communities, and for you and future generations to literally be able to walk in their footsteps and learn about them.
RISHM currently has installed 16 QR-coded markers across Rhode Island; six of them are here in Newport. It makes for a fascinating history lesson while strolling our streets, whether you are a resident or a tourist. Seasonally, RISHM hosts guided Newport Black History Walking Tours so people can see these markers up close and learn about the lives of the people they represent. Walking in their footsteps, one is sure to become more knowledgeable about the fascinating and heroic people who are finally getting their personal stories told, on the wings of angels.
You can find out more about RISHM’s markers and medallions, and their locations, here.
Charles L. Roberts is Executive Director and Founder of Rhode Island Slave History Medallions, www.rishm.org.