New Exhibits - Black Hands, Blue Seas: The Untold Maritime Stories of African Americans

The Untold Maritime Stories of African Americans
June 6, 2008 – March 22, 2009

Crewman at the helm of the schooner
Herbert L. Rawding, 1926. »
(Courtesy Mystic Seaport Museum)

Seine boats and striker boat of the
menhaden steamer Promised Land
on Long Island Sound, 1949. »
(Courtesy Mystic Seaport,
Rosenfeld Collection, 1984)

"Steaming Crabs, Popes Creek,
Charles County Maryland, ca. 1963,"
photograph by Marion E. Warren. »
(Courtesy of M. E. Warren Photography, LLC)

Dorie Miller receiving the Navy Cross
from Admiral Nimitz, May 1942. »
(Courtesy National Archives)

When Jim Graham saw a picture of his
shipmate's sister, Barbara, he was
determined to meet her. The two have been
happily married since 1945. »
(Courtesy Mystic Seaport and James Graham)

Welders Alivia Scott, Hattie Carpenter, and
Flossie Burtos await an opportunity to
weld their first piece of steel on the
Liberty ship SS George Washington Carver at
Kaiser Shipyards, Richmond, CA, 1943. »
(Courtesy National Archives)

Independence Seaport Museum First Venue to Host Traveling Exhibit

Black Hands, Blue Seas is a compelling exhibit that explores the untold stories of the African-American maritime experience.

While many histories offered of African Americans at sea deal primarily with slavery, Black Hands, Blue Seas highlights the substantial contributions they have made to the maritime world.

Since our nation's founding, American seafarers of African descent have labored in ships and ports, served in our Navy and Coast Guard, and agitated for social justice.

The exhibit explores how black mariners' work, wartime service, and activism contributed to our shared maritime culture and a strong black American identity.

Black Hands, Blue Seas brings together art, documents, tools, memorabilia, photographs, music, video, and literature to trace the rich maritime heritage of African Americans, from inventors and abolitionists to naval heroes and explorers.

Videos include historic footage, recent interviews, and music, while audio programs feature songs, poetry, and first-hand accounts of black mariners' experiences.

The exhibit focuses on the 19th- and mid-20th centuries, but begins with African origins, including West African fishing, diving, and boat-building practices from pre-contact with Europeans, as well as the maritime experience of the Middle Passage.

It brings the exhibit themes of work, wartime service, and activism up to the present through photos of black fishermen and U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard servicemen and women, artifacts from Capt. Bill Pinkney's historic solo circumnavigation of the world, and a map of the current Atlantic tour of the Freedom Schooner Amistad.

Independence Seaport Museum, the first venue to host Black Hands, Blue Seas outside of Mystic Seaport Museum, expanded and developed the exhibit's Philadelphia components and added local contemporary stories.

These include the stories of Arctic explorer Matthew Henson, abolitionist William Still, freed slave Jane Johnson, and sail-maker and social activist James Forten.

The Seaport also expanded the contemporary element by including stories of local African Americans in the maritime world today, such as naval personnel, tugboat captains, shipyard workers, and marina masters.

Black Hands, Blue Seas is free with membership or Museum admission.

Independence Seaport Museum gratefully acknowledges the Samuel S. Fels Fund, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, and media partner, The Philadelphia Tribune for their support of Black Hands, Blue Seas.

Special Black Hands, Blue Seas Programs

Independence Seaport Museum's Education Department created special public programming to supplement Black Hands, Blue Seas, including:

African-American Maritime Adventures: A Family Fun Day
August 2, 11 am-4 pm
Discover the important role African Americans played in maritime history by learning sail making like James Forten, ship caulking like Frederick Douglass, and the tools of navigation like Paul Cuffe. Sponsored with African American Museum of Philadelphia. On August 2 both museums will honor the other's admission tickets. Learn more here about Family Fun Day »

Secret Symbols in African Textiles & African-American Quilts
Saturday, October 18, 2008, 2 pm
From traditional African textiles to contemporary African-American quilts, fabric has long been prized for the ways it can tell stories. Pennsylvania Humanities Council folkorist Cassandra Stancil Gunkel discusses traditional clothing, 21st century "ethnic" fashions, and quilts in a hands-on presentation that unravels the secret meaning of African textiles such as mud cloth, adinkra designs, and kinte.

Voices of Africa
Saturday, November 8, 2008, 1 pm
Internationally acclaimed all-women a capella and percussion ensemble Voices of Africa in a performance that spans the African Diaspora.

African Mariner Festival
Saturday, March 14, 2009, 11 am-4 pm
Family day of hands-on activities and music and dance performances sponsored with Odunde, Inc.

Events & Exhibits