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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Connecting the Ancient to New England
Still Image
Catalog Entry
<p>“The caged bird sings with fearful trill of the things unknown, but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill, for the caged bird sings for freedom.” </p>
<p>Famous words written by the infamous African-American author and poet Maya Angelou. While looking at the beautiful carving of the Nubian girl on the mirror holding that bird, one can be reminded of those very words. Wondering to yourself if you are the caged bird or the free bird. Whether you are African-American or Caucasian-American or any other type of American, you can ask yourself, are you living a caged life or a free one? However as a person of color the chances of you living the free one are slim. Eyes gazing up to the mirror itself you wonder. If you look in it, what will you see? Will you see him? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Will you see a person of color that makes him proud? That makes him think he died for a good cause? Will the person you are today, right now, be a person he would be glad to die for? Or do you forget where you come from? Do you choose to bury your head in the sand while others suffer? Do you think “oh, it’s not my problem” as you live your Anglo-Saxon life with your Anglo-Saxon friends? Do you remember what he died for or just enjoy the day off of work in January? Being a person of color in 2018 can be difficult. You gaze in mirrors daily, hoping to see the strength of MLK, Jr., and the wisdom of Maya Angelou shining out from behind your eyes. You hope to be the free bird that thinks of nothing but “breezes, and fat worms, and writing his name on the sky.” But if you are that caged bird, the one who doesn’t remember anything more than the first few sentences of “I Have A Dream,” maybe you look in this mirror again and remember.</p>
Bibliography
<p>Demby, Gene. “How Black Americans See Discrimination.” <em>National Public Radio</em>, 25 Oct. 2017, https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/10/25/559015355/how-black-americans-see-discrimination<span>.</span></p>
Photographer(s)
Courtesy of the MFA
Courtesy of the Boston Globe via Getty Images
Catalog Entry Author(s)
Shani Farrell, Student, Fitchburg State University
Artifact Owner
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA - Nubian Mirror; Boston, MA – King Speaking at Massachusetts State House
african american
african festival
boston
massachusetts
MFA
nubian
storytelling and oral tradition fall 2018
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Connecting the Ancient to New England
Still Image
Catalog Entry
<p>Although different in shape and composition, both of these lanterns have a deeper significance to Nubian culture and African-American culture. In the Nubian culture, they often carved important objects into figures that they valued. They were inspired by animals and almost worshipped them for their usefulness, relying on them for their survival. Therefore, they carved most of their weapons, and other tools into shapes of animals such as a crocodile or a lion head. This correlation, however, also goes the other way. Ancient cultures heavily relied on light, whether it be from the sun itself or from their handmade lanterns when the sun set. Without replicating the light of the sun using these lanterns, they would be restricted to only the sun’s beams. Light was a huge advantage to this culture. To highlight the lantern’s impact in their lives, such as they did with many objects, they decorated these lanterns. They sculpted these items with symbolism as a way to preserve the value it had on their culture. For them to depict the face of a Nubian person tells us they had a story to tell the world, about their people and about their culture. Art in the ancient world typically tells a story about a civilization's way of life. (The lantern depicted is from the 2<sup>nd</sup>-4<sup>th</sup> century.)</p>
<p>We can say the same for the Civil War lantern in the Fitchburg Historical Society. The use of light itself is symbolic during this period because it was a sign of hope, a way to light the way into a brighter future. Lighting the way with the guide of the moon, and the lantern itself, was an important theme with the Underground Railroad slaves, such as depicted in DeMisty D. Bellinger’s poems. The value of such a lantern today is not just the lantern, or what it was made out of. Such as the Nubian lamp, the value that the lantern had in their lives shows us more about their experiences and who they were. Slaves in search of freedom relied on such light to bring them forward to freedom; they followed the light’s path. Lanterns, in addition, were used as a signal for safe houses, to let slaves know the place was safe to take shelter. It is symbolic to preserve these lanterns because it preserves the experience, and it allows us to put ourselves in their shoes, to illuminate their journeys.</p>
Bibliography
<p>Ikram, Salima. “From Food to Furniture: Animals in Ancient Nubia." In <em>Ancient Nubia: African Kingdoms on </em><em>the Nile</em>. Eds. M. Fisher, P. Lacovara, S. Ikram, and S. D'Auria. Cairo: AUC Press, 2012. 210-228.</p>
<p>“Underground Railroad: A Path to Freedom.” Eastern Illinois University, www.eiu.edu/eiutps/underground_railroad.php.</p>
Photographer(s)
Courtesy of the MFA
Catalog Entry Author(s)
Traer Wilson, Student, Fitchburg State University
Artifact Owner
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA - Lamp with the Head of a Nubian; Fitchburg Historical Society, Fitchburg, MA – Civil War-Era Lantern
african american
african festival
fitchburg historical society
nubian
poetry
storytelling and oral tradition fall 2018
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Connecting the Ancient to New England
Still Image
Catalog Entry
<p>This sandal was uncovered in a land of the forgotten. It was worn by a member of the ancient Nubian civilization. It is estimated to be from a time somewhere between 2400-1550 BCE. This civilization, also known as the kingdom of Kush, is considered to be one of the first black African civilizations. Kush possessed an abundance of riches, including spices, incense, animal skins, and gold, making them desirable trade partners with the neighboring nation of Egypt. The Egyptian empire overshadowed this society and at times occupied the region, impacting what information we have and the distinctions between the two communities. The sandal depicted is made of cowhide. Sandals like these were most likely worn to protect their feet from the hot sediment.</p>
<p>The second photo is the gravestone of Jan Matzeliger, a man of African descent who revolutionized the shoe-making industry. This monument can be found in Pine Grove Cemetery in Lynn, Massachusetts, where Matzeliger made his invention “The Shoe Laster.” Lynn, Massachusetts during the late 1800s produced more than half of our country’s shoes. Matzeliger was an immigrant who worked hard to put himself through school first to learn English and then to study physics and mechanical science. Despite the challenges Matzeliger faced he kept pushing through. Many of his peers in the shoe making industry belittled his idea believing no machine could do such work. By 1883 Matzeliger had a patent for the machine he invented which attaches the top portion of the shoe to the sole, typically done by hand through an intricate process called lasting. Master lasters could make about fifty shoes during a ten-hour work day, and Matzeliger’s final design made up to 700 shoes a day. Unfortunately, Jan Matzeliger died at the age of 37 in 1889 before receiving much compensation for his invention.</p>
<p>These two artifacts represent apparel advances in history. They show that the history of footwear has greatly transformed over the centuries. Both from underrepresented and overlooked cultures, these artifacts are evidence of the talent and artistic skill of people of African descent. Jan Matzeliger may have died and Ancient Nubian legacies may have died out, but, to give them both their well-deserved gratitude, we must share all the knowledge and history we have.</p>
Bibliography
<p>"Jan Matzeliger (1852–1889)." <em>African American Almanac</em>, Lean'tin Bracks, Visible Ink Press, 2012. <em>Credo </em><em>Reference</em>,http://ezproxy.fitchburgstate.edu:2048/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/vipaaalm/jan_matzeliger_1852_1889/0?institutionId=934. Accessed 23 Nov. 2018.</p>
<p>"University of Chicago opens new gallery devoted to ancient Nubia." <em>Diverse Issues in Higher Education</em>, 6 Apr. 2006, 13. <em>Expanded Academic ASAP</em>, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A144871564/EAIM?u=mlin_c_fitchcol&sid=EAIM&xid=f807c6ba. Accessed 20 Nov. 2018.</p>
Photographer(s)
Courtesy of the MFA
Kisha G. Tracy
Catalog Entry Author(s)
Dana Tribandis, Student, Fitchburg State University
Artifact Owner
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA - Nubian Sandal; Lynn, MA – Jan Matzeliger Grave (Pine Grove Cemetery)
african american
african festival
lynn
massachusetts
MFA
nubian
storytelling and oral tradition fall 2018