*Amid all the harsh repressions in the era of slavery, African American folks, women, in particular, have managed to preserve the culture of their ancestors.
These cultural materials were perilous to preserve; despite this obstacle, Black female writers and artists emerged during the Reconstruction and Civil War eras. They finally managed to break through into mainstream media and the American culture in the 1920s.
Let’s look at how these bodies of creative work made their way to us in the present day.
The Slavery Era
Among the most famous examples of works of art from this era are the quilts that depict scenes from historic or Biblical events. Most of the ones that can be found today were made by Harriet Powers who had the misfortune of being born into slavery in 1837 in Georgia.
Her works of art can be seen in Boston’s Museum of Fine Art and in the Smithsonian. The first examples of literature, however, came a little later in 1859. These bodies of work were part of the Black community’s general renaissance which was spread all over the 1850s. Some of the most notable works include short stories that were written by Harriet E. Wilson and Frances Ellen Watkins.
Civil War and Reconstruction
New-York-born artist Edmonia Lewis graduated from Oberlin College in 1860 and gained a lot of her fame because of sculptures. Among her most notable works are the busts of Abraham Lincoln, John Brown, and Robert Gould Shaw (an army colonel who was killed while leading Black Union Army Troops).
Some had even gained some fame because of narrative poems such as “The Song of Hiawatha” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Others, however, were more involved in memorable autobiographical works such as “Behind the Scenes; or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House” by Elizabeth Keckly. She had also managed to become a confidante of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Early 20th Century and the Harlem Renaissance
In the years that followed the First World War, Black visual artists could be seen coming up with increasing numbers of work which were influenced by some noticeable African aesthetics. Among the earliest artists to do so was Meta Warrick Fuller, the first Black woman ever to receive a federal commission for her works of art.
You can also delve deeper and see how Black women in art and literature morphed during the Civil Rights and Black Arts movements and the late 20th century and early 21st century. African American art and literature has grown to such an extent that it even managed to get honored with the Pulitzer and the Nobel Prize!
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