{"id":39,"date":"2020-11-11T16:06:55","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T16:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/?page_id=39"},"modified":"2026-06-04T14:21:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T14:21:53","slug":"about-commemorative","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/about-commemorative\/","title":{"rendered":"About the Commemorative"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-39\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-39-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-0-0-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div class=\"widget_text big-text panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-39-0-0-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\">The Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland provides visitors with the space to acknowledge and learn from the lives of those who once toiled here, while providing a place for reflection and introspection about the nature of slavery and its connections to modern society.\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-39-0-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-0-1-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\" ><div class=\"widget_text mobile-hide panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-39-0-1-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><div style=\"padding:10% 15% 10% 15%\" class=\"mobile-hide\">\n\t<h2 style=\"color: #f3c10d; font-weight: 800; text-align:center;\">Learn and <br>\n\t\tReflect with Us<\/h2>\n<p style=\"color:#ffffff;\">\nSo we may better understand the world in which we live, it is important to learn from and reflect upon the experiences of people who were enslaved and had to fight for their freedom.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-1\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-1-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-1-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-slider panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"2\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-slider so-widget-smcm-slider-default-d75171398898-39\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-slider-container\"><div class=\"splide id-56cc8238-74cb-477e-8453-921929560ffe \"><button class=\"splide__toggle smcm-slider-toggle\" type=\"button\"><span class=\"splide__toggle__play\"><i class=\"fa-solid fa-play\"><\/i><\/span><span class=\"splide__toggle__pause\"><i class=\"fa-solid fa-pause\"><\/i><\/span><\/button><div class=\"splide__track\"><ul class=\"splide__list\"><li class=\"splide__slide\" data-splide-interval=\"5000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/commemorative-1-768x432-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A small house-shaped sculpture with illuminated text cutouts stands on a field at night, with bright floodlights and a building visible in the background.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/commemorative-1-768x432-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/commemorative-1-768x432-1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/li><li class=\"splide__slide\" data-splide-interval=\"5000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/commemorative-site-1-768x432-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A small structure made of perforated metal panels is illuminated at night, casting patterned light and shadows onto the ground in a grassy field near a soccer goal.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/commemorative-site-1-768x432-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/commemorative-site-1-768x432-1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/li><li class=\"splide__slide\" data-splide-interval=\"5000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/sun-commemorative-smcm-1-768x432-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A small wooden house structure made from multicolored planks with engraved text, situated outdoors on a concrete pad with a sports field and building in the background.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/sun-commemorative-smcm-1-768x432-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/sun-commemorative-smcm-1-768x432-1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/li><li class=\"splide__slide\" data-splide-interval=\"5000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/commemorative-5-768x432-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Wooden slats with the word &quot;remember&quot; cut out, sunlight casting shadows, and grass visible in the background.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/commemorative-5-768x432-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/commemorative-5-768x432-1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/li><\/ul><\/div><ul class=\"splide__pagination\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-2\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-2-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-2-0-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"3\" ><div class=\"widget_text panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-39-2-0-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><h3 class=\"section-title\" style=\"font-weight:800; font-size:2.4em;\">Inspiration<\/h3>\n<div>\n<p>\nThrough historical documents, archaeological research, and slave folklore, the Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland acknowledges the past while honoring the enslaved people who lived on this land, recontextualizing how we examine our shared history. The inclusion of erasure poetry on a structure inspired by the \u201cghost frame\u201d architecture at Historic St. Mary\u2019s City provides an opportunity to change the dialogue around slavery in Southern Maryland. \n<\/p>\n<p>\nThe \u201cghost frames\u201d at St. Mary\u2019s City provide inspiration for the Commemorative\u2019s structure as they are not fully formed buildings but placeholders, evoking a feeling of being caught in between \u2014 in time and space. They capture the idea of transition and of incompleteness, of being here but not here. They signify a far-away past, but also suggest there is much more waiting for us to experience and understand. \n<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-3\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-39-3\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-3-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-empty\" ><\/div><div id=\"pgc-39-3-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-mobile-last\" ><div id=\"panel-39-3-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-quote panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"4\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-quote so-widget-smcm-quote-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-quote navy\"><div><p>\"A commemorative can be a reflective piece, but it can call you to action and make you think about something that is positive there. It can affect how you live your life going forward.\"<\/p><p class=\"quote-attribution\">- President Emerita Tuajuanda C. Jordan<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-39-3-2\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-empty\" ><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-4\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-4-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-4-0-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"5\" ><div class=\"widget_text panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-39-4-0-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><p>\nUnlike a fully recreated artifact such as whole slave cabins and villages erected to provide the public with a glimpse into historical life  \u2014 the Commemorative invites us to fill in the blanks. The Commemorative uses the slave quarter as a symbol of resilience, determination, and persistence. This message is reinforced by our inability to enter the Commemorative structure. As the slave quarters shielded the lives of the slaves from the enslavers, acting as both a refuge and a prison, the Commemorative too shields this private space. Not only can we not see inside but the structure reflects our gaze back on us. It does not remove us from everyday life as a historical village might, but allows us to contemplate how slavery affects us today: our biases, our legislation, how our government works, and how we as a nation deal with this very difficult past. It begs us to interpret these experiences through many different lenses. \n<\/p>\n<p>\nThe field and surrounding natural environment are living evidence of the plantation that once existed here. With this knowledge, the choice to build the Commemorative in this field and next to the Jamie L. Robert Stadium was deliberate. In addition to being only a few paces from where the original cabin stood, the Commemorative sits along the path that visitors use to go to games and events at the stadium. Placed where it is, it is impossible to ignore \u2014 proof that the lives the Commemorative seeks to honor are no longer buried beneath an athletic field. At night, the field acts as a canvas for the light that radiates out of the Commemorative, acting as an eternal vigil to the enslaved people who once lived, loved, worked, and resisted in this place.\n<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-5\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-5-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-5-0-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"6\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><h3 class=\"section-title\" style=\"font-weight:800; font-size:2.4em;\">Revealing the Power of Erasure Poetry<\/h3>\n\n<p>\nErasure poetry is a form of found poetry that is created by erasing, or redacting, words from an existing piece of prose or verse. The redactions allow poets to create symbolism while also putting a focus on the social and political meanings of erasure. New questions, suggestions, and meanings in existing pieces of writing are revealed through erasure poetry. \n<\/p>\n\n<p>\nThe erasure poetry that covers the structure is adapted from historical documents related to the Mackall-Brome plantation \u2014 one of three known plantations located on the land around St. Mary\u2019s City. These documents include slave property and runaway slave advertisements, newspaper articles, and slave depositions of the Mackall-Brome family. These poems become the walls and roof of the structure revealing powerful stories hidden within the language of a dark past. \n<\/p>\n<!--\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"one-half first\">\n<p>\nErasure poetry is a form of found poetry that is created by erasing, or redacting, words from an existing piece of prose or verse. The redactions allow poets to create symbolism while also putting a focus on the social and political meanings of erasure. New questions, suggestions, and meanings in existing pieces of writing are revealed through erasure poetry. \n<\/p>\n\n<p>\nThe erasure poetry that covers the structure is adapted from historical documents related to the Mackall-Brome plantation \u2014 one of three known plantations located on the land around St. Mary\u2019s City. These documents include slave property and runaway slave advertisements, newspaper articles, and slave depositions of the Mackall-Brome family. These poems become the walls and roof of the structure revealing powerful stories hidden within the language of a dark past. \n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\n<div class=\"one-half last\">\t\n\t[video autoplay=\"on\" autoplay=\"1\" autoplay loop=\"on\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2020\/09\/StMary_WebVideo_01.mp4\"]\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n-->\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5g5BhJtCZLs?si=crU33J2edu-_BW3h\" title=\"Commemorative Erasure Poetry YouTube\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-6\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-39-6\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-6-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-6-0-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"7\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><h3>Uncovering New Meaning<\/h3><div id=\"poetry\">\n<\/div>\n<p>\n\tThe Commemorative is a unique and immersive piece of art. Explore some of the poetry written by Quenton Baker that makes up the walls, roof, and chimney of the structure. \t\n<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-7\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-7-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_text panel-first-child\" data-index=\"8\" >\t\t\t<div class=\"textwidget\"><h4>Listen to All Poems<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion\" data-index=\"9\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>A complex dark confined - East Roof<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>a complex dark confined carried by law through the un reason of time a copper-colored apprehension who said run first who called midnight home that thick scar that reward paid to the low the black the un belonging now NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN to the slow discharge of reason to the defect of purchase and confinement your hold is frail and spare of flesh we are the inner bone of a secret broken for safe delivery re-united under cover in a dark country<br \/>\nnow<br \/>\nNOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN<br \/>\nto the well-worn anvil to the cotton weighing down the tongue there will be no return no dollars given for the lost still the scythe bury the fields under a homespun shawl<br \/>\nlet no eyes rest upon them<br \/>\nit is the ordinary the cut the collected the stiff the scarred the laughing the somber the polite the slender we run toward a self made shore we lurk with stars<br \/>\nbelonging to a bright black crown<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-2\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion\" data-index=\"10\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>Our presence - East Wall<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>our presence turns a kind of perfect pain to profit<br \/>\nour absence deforms swells to an intolerable release<br \/>\nto run is to change the shape of the dark<br \/>\nfrom affliction to seam to pass into the crease where scar joins flesh to stay is to smith touch into a secret<br \/>\nto make quick looks and low talk into a shore we build our speech into a<br \/>\nrestless knife cut a new belonging from this thin copper visage to remember<br \/>\nthe small eyes the mark upon a cheek the round shoulders the bright open mouth<br \/>\nthe limp and swollen leg the scar along the instep<br \/>\nthe impediment in their speech the touch of their good hand<br \/>\nto remember is to run to turn the night into a harbor that holds us still<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-3\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion\" data-index=\"11\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>The body made to resemble - West Roof<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>the body made to resemble a drab ragged language<br \/>\na heavy upper lip ordinary height a drooping corner at the mouth dark and stout made<br \/>\ndescriptions of the lash an indulgence in order to prove property what drives men to treat liberty like a cough to apprehend black flesh as rupture when discovery is peril when water and distance are a good drug<br \/>\nwhen you steal your self to make a body from a vessel<br \/>\nwhen your child has no name except to you you charge toward a coarse disordered night<br \/>\nno sheriff of the dark no governor of scar just a careless forest an un interrogated harbor a neighborhood untouched by plantation what a broad<br \/>\nendeavor<br \/>\nto say never again in this a scalding age of endless pursuit<br \/>\nto scar only as a rock scars to fear as little as the river<br \/>\nwith the long and frequent rest of an elopement if escape is a deception if freedom a dangerous flame then call me<br \/>\nSHADRACH<br \/>\nand set me to burn<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-4\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion\" data-index=\"12\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>A disappearance - West Wall<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>a disappearance named CHARLES HENRY named WILLIAM FRANCIS named JACOB BRISCOE<br \/>\nnamed WLLIAM BARNES named ELIZA ANN LEA named BILL DYSON named JOHN DORSEY named HARRY EDELIN named CHARLES BATSON named GEORGE THOMAS<br \/>\nnamed HENRY GOUGH named HEZEKIAH TABBS named JIM DORSEY named ROBERT GAINER named GEORGE TILGHMAN named JOHN THOMAS named LEWIS DORSEY named NEALY LEIGH<br \/>\nnamed ISSAC BLACKISTONE named JOHN FENICK named WASHINGTON MORELAND<br \/>\nnamed HENRY BUTLER<br \/>\nnamed HILLARY BEENDER named GEORGE PATTERSON named DONEY BARNES named CHARLES BROWN<br \/>\nnamed HENRY WOODWARD named DENIS GUIBERT named PHIL CARBERRY<br \/>\nnamed JANE HUGHES named JOHN LEWIS<br \/>\nnamed AMBROSE MILLARD named MOSES BENNETT named ARNOLD JONES named ROMULUS WHALIN named THOMAS GROSS named BENEDICT THOMAS named JOHN THOMAS<br \/>\nnamed HENRY COOPER<br \/>\nnamed JORDAN BROOKS named JOHN GROSS a good loss a delightful cut into the land<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-5\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion\" data-index=\"13\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>Bill shorter - North Gable<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>BILL SHORTER<br \/>\nand WILLIAM TABBS<br \/>\nand LEWIS CARTER<br \/>\nand AUSTIN CAMPBELL and<br \/>\nGEORGE LEE and WILLIAM BUTLER that live<br \/>\ngone off into the dark and NEALY HALL and ROBERT HALL and CHARLES SMITH and MICHAEL BENNET bright at the corner of the eye and smiling into an ugly night and GEORGE RASTIN and TREACY and her child and WINNY BUTLER and MARGARET WILSON and JOE THOMAS and JOSEPH CARTER<br \/>\nand JOHN PUSLEY and JAMES DORSEY and JAMES HEBBS stole color from a sunday became quick impediments to a purchase and JIM BUTLER and ADAM JOHNSON and JOHN STUERS and AMBROSE CARBERY<br \/>\nand JOHN THOMPSON and MOSES DORKINS<br \/>\nand RICHARD THOMSON and WILLIAM BANKS and PETER WATKINS<br \/>\nbroke the vile collection became a comely rupture a handsome cut across the tobacco and cotton and URIAH and MOSES and ANTHONY and NACE and JANE and FRANK<br \/>\nand CENA whose house is stolen touch who makes a forest from the chest and AUSTIN and BILL<br \/>\nand HARRY and DANIEL and ANDREW and JAMES and AMBROSE and WASHINGTON<br \/>\nand CLEM and TOM<br \/>\nwell acquainted with the road with the punishment of summer run in june along the patuxent take with you a good anger a step hot enough to burn the shore<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-6\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion\" data-index=\"14\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>We are more - Chimney Gable<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>SOUTHEAST - WALL (LEFT)<br \/>\nwe<br \/>\nare more than the law allows<br \/>\na blue distance<br \/>\nthin and tall we speak into the break<br \/>\ncall out<br \/>\nfor POMPEY for JOE for TOBY<br \/>\nfor those remarkable occasions<br \/>\nwhen our scars turned<br \/>\nto missives<br \/>\nour speech to a flick<br \/>\nof the axe we call out<br \/>\nfor TOM FLUSS<br \/>\nfor WILL BAKER<br \/>\nthose rogue pages cut with unreasonable words for LEVEN for CHARLES<br \/>\nfor LAMBO<br \/>\nthose un-proper spirits who made the road buckle<br \/>\nunder their weight<\/p>\n<p>SOUTHEAST - WALL (RIGHT)<br \/>\nlost<br \/>\nto the<br \/>\nmad sting<br \/>\nof winter<br \/>\nlost<br \/>\nto sharp teeth<br \/>\nin the neck<br \/>\nlost<br \/>\nto the deformity<br \/>\nof ownership<br \/>\nlost<br \/>\nto any collection<br \/>\nbut not the sylvan road<br \/>\nof belonging<br \/>\nCALEB<br \/>\nand NANCY and SALLY<br \/>\nand BEN<br \/>\nbuilt a church out of<br \/>\nescape returned scarred legs<br \/>\nto the employment<br \/>\nof release<br \/>\na reward to each<br \/>\nother<br \/>\nyet still<br \/>\npay us in endeavor<br \/>\npay us in living<br \/>\nremembrance<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-7\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion\" data-index=\"15\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>Branded like a gelding - Southwest Chimney<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>branded like a<br \/>\ngelding<br \/>\nbodies made<br \/>\nto<br \/>\nbend like black<br \/>\nhorns<br \/>\njoined in one<br \/>\nvoyage<br \/>\nfrom one escape<br \/>\nto the next<br \/>\nheavy calves<br \/>\nused to work<br \/>\nnow put<br \/>\nto carpentry<br \/>\nthe legs can<br \/>\nbuild a carriage<br \/>\nsecure it<br \/>\nwith gold<br \/>\nthe hands can sew<br \/>\na ship from dirt<br \/>\nand road<br \/>\ncome JACOB<br \/>\ncome<br \/>\nTOWERHILL<br \/>\ncome SARAH<br \/>\nremark upon the<br \/>\nstars<br \/>\nthat wait<br \/>\nin our<br \/>\nfeatures<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-8\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion\" data-index=\"16\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>Not hewn from the whip - Southeast Chimney<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>not<br \/>\nhewn<br \/>\nfrom the whip<br \/>\nnot made<br \/>\nby<br \/>\nthe lash<br \/>\ncome BAPTIST<br \/>\ncome<br \/>\nLYDIA<br \/>\ncome MOLL CROCK<br \/>\ncome GEOFFRY<br \/>\nslave<br \/>\nfalls<br \/>\nintolerable<\/p>\n<p>against you<br \/>\nyou<br \/>\nliving temples<br \/>\nyou<br \/>\ngilded wards<br \/>\ncome<br \/>\nSTEPHEN JOHNSON<br \/>\ncome<br \/>\nWILL NORRIS<br \/>\ncome BAR come NAT<br \/>\nthis day and every<br \/>\nday belongs<br \/>\nto your longing<br \/>\nto your shortened years<br \/>\nyour worn joints your<br \/>\nsmooth black laugh<br \/>\ntoward peril<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-9\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion\" data-index=\"17\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>We are only - Northwest Chimney<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>we are only<br \/>\nin<br \/>\nthe custody<br \/>\nof the current<br \/>\nwe can only<br \/>\nbe locked up<br \/>\nin the fine teeth<br \/>\nof the river<br \/>\ncome<br \/>\nPHILL HOOPER<br \/>\ncome SOLOMON<br \/>\ncome JERRE<br \/>\ncome<br \/>\nMAREEN<br \/>\ncome JACK<br \/>\nput your lips<br \/>\nto the gaol<br \/>\nand watch<br \/>\nit buckle come<br \/>\nEL\u0132AH<br \/>\ncome MATTHEW<br \/>\ncome BESS<br \/>\nyou took up<br \/>\nresidence in the dark<br \/>\nbay ferried<br \/>\npassage<br \/>\nto your bright<br \/>\ndescendents<br \/>\nyour scarred shoulders<br \/>\nyour burnt hands<br \/>\ncarved a country<br \/>\nfrom this<br \/>\nbreach<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-7-0-10\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion panel-last-child\" data-index=\"18\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>Our Names Please - Northeast Chimney<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>our names<br \/>\nplease<br \/>\nlike the most<br \/>\nvaluable<br \/>\ncure<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-8\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-39-8\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-8-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-empty\" ><\/div><div id=\"pgc-39-8-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-mobile-last\" ><div id=\"panel-39-8-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-quote panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"19\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-quote so-widget-smcm-quote-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-quote navy\"><div><p>\"Going through the exercise of erasing certain elements of those documents, you're engaging history. You are embracing history. But at the same time, you're critiquing history.\"<\/p><p class=\"quote-attribution\">- Dr. Jeffrey Coleman<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-39-8-2\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-empty\" ><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-9\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-9-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-9-0-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child\" data-index=\"20\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><h3 class=\"section-title\" style=\"font-weight:800; font-size:2.4em;\">Symbols of Resistance<\/h3>\n<p>Illuminated from within at night, the poetry is projected onto the ground surrounding the Commemorative, mimicking the star-like pattern found on a number of ceramic artifacts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/discovery-of-slave-quarters\/\">discovered during the College\u2019s archaeological investigation<\/a>. This effect points to the theory discussed by experts that the star-like pattern symbolizes the web of Anansi, the African folklore character. Anansi\u2019s web represents resistance of the plantation system and slavery in the New World. The light projecting from the Commemorative at night also serves as a beacon, or North Star, representing the journey north to lasting freedom.\n<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-9-0-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-image panel-last-child\" data-index=\"21\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-image so-widget-sow-image-default-dbf295114b96-39\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"sow-image-container\">\n\t\t<img \n\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2020\/11\/18ST1-270-CNEHA-Image-startlike.jpg\" width=\"989\" height=\"496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2020\/11\/18ST1-270-CNEHA-Image-startlike.jpg 989w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2020\/11\/18ST1-270-CNEHA-Image-startlike-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2020\/11\/18ST1-270-CNEHA-Image-startlike-768x385.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 989px) 100vw, 989px\" alt=\"A small, irregularly-shaped ceramic fragment with faint blue markings, placed above a measurement scale showing inches and centimeters on a black background.\" \t\tclass=\"so-widget-image\"\/>\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-10\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-has-style\" ><div class=\"panel-row-style panel-row-style-for-39-10\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-10-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-empty\" ><\/div><div id=\"pgc-39-10-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-mobile-last\" ><div id=\"panel-39-10-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-quote panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"22\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-quote so-widget-smcm-quote-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-quote navy\"><div><p>\"We engaged in a lot of public outreach and compiled the responses of the public \u2014 both online and through presentations with the public, with the students, with the faculty and staff. Folks overwhelmingly said that they wanted a commemorative that was contemplative, that was respectful, that caused people to really stop and think.\"<\/p><p class=\"quote-attribution\">- Kent Randall<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-39-10-2\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-empty\" ><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-11\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-11-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-11-0-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child\" data-index=\"23\" ><div class=\"widget_text panel-widget-style panel-widget-style-for-39-11-0-0\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><h3 class=\"section-title\" style=\"font-weight:800; font-size:2.4em;\">Focusing on Reflection<\/h3>\n<div>\n<p>\nMany were surprised by the location chosen for the Commemorative. But there was a very intentional reason why it was built on land that was supposed to become athletic fields. \u201cBecause you can\u2019t ignore it,\u201d said then President Tuajuanda C. Jordan. \u201cWhen people are going through those athletic fields, it is there in their face. I want that to give them pause and wonder, why is this here?\u201d \n<\/p>\n<p>\n\n\t<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"100%\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CzMj5_YKHeE?si=5dOEwd97LdBFQtRc\" title=\"The Power of Proximity on YouTube\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-11-0-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion panel-last-child\" data-index=\"24\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>Commemorative poet, Mr. Quenton Baker, offered insight into his process \u2014 amplifying the voices of those who were silenced, using the words of those who silenced them.<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>What was your creative approach in trying to give voice to the College's discovery of slave quarters and honoring the find?<br \/>\nThe three things that I wanted to keep in mind above all were: this is a local project and involving the community and keeping it focused on St. Mary\u2019s County was vital; to ground whatever work that came out of this process in research, maintain a text-based approach; and to not project myself backwards through time, or to try and speak for or speak through folks, but rather to bear witness.<\/p>\n<p>What is unique about your approach that separates this design from others honoring slavery across the country?<br \/>\nI think the classic mistake in dealing with any type of history, especially the history of enslaved people in this country, is obliterating your subject. I can\u2019t know or imagine or deduce what it meant to be enslaved, or what it was like inside the mind and body of the people we are honoring. And I wouldn\u2019t want to try. I believe that in trying to speak for these dead, speak for the objectified and violated, you run the risk of obliterating their positionality, as fraught and as difficult as it might have been. The stark reality is that the enslaved in St. Mary\u2019s County were not people. They were to themselves, and they are to me, but they did not occupy that role in the time and locations they lived in. That is an impossible thing to consider and an impossible thing to understand. And yet, you have to keep it in mind. We invite erasure and, indeed, a kind of obliteration when we forget that.<\/p>\n<p>How does the Commemorative you created connect the past to the present and future?<br \/>\nAny time we consider the slave we are connecting the past to the present and future. Slavery has been abolished, but the anti-blackness and realities of black non-being which precipitated the system of chattel slavery have not. It\u2019s the same animus that lurked and lurks inside Jim Crow, mass incarceration, the general continued lack of access to healthcare, education, employment, safety that defines black life. We live in what Saidiya Hartman would call the \u201cafterlife of slavery,\u201d or what Christina Sharpe would call its wake. To consider the slave is to consider how the slave is made, and how it can, if it can, be unmade. And that consideration leads us to ask: has it? And if so, how can we explain what we see around us, what we know to be true? We cannot. And then we know our grim inheritance, that there is still a project to be completed in the present and in the future.<\/p>\n<p>What challenges did you face in bringing this project to life?<br \/>\nThe most difficult obstacle for me was the text and the subject. It\u2019s not easy or fun to engage with chattel slavery. It\u2019s draining, it\u2019s damaging, it\u2019s an endeavor. To work in the mode of erasure poetry, you have to hold the text within yourself, in a way. Letting 240 runaway slave ads live inside of you for months takes a toll.<\/p>\n<p>What statement do you want the Commemorative to make?<br \/>\nI think about this project less as an opportunity to make a statement and more as a kind of opening. I would love the Commemorative to be a possibility, the beginning of an investigative process, a reason to ask questions about what it means to live in a country capable of starting its history as this one did, with stolen land and stolen bodies.<\/p>\n<p>What kind of experience do you hope for those viewing it?<br \/>\nAn engaged one.<\/p>\n<p>Are their particular aspects of this project that have special meaning for you?<br \/>\nThe entire project has profoundly special meaning to me. I\u2019m honored to have been a part of it.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-12\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-12-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-12-0-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"25\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><h3 class=\"section-title\" style=\"font-weight:800; font-size:2.4em;\">Honoring the Resilience of Enslaved People<\/h3>\n\n<h3>Construction of the Commemorative<\/h3>\n\n<p>Through the selection process, and considering feedback from students, faculty, staff and community members, the Commemorative selection committee contracted the firm RE:site to design the Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland.<\/p>\n\n<p>The contrast of historical and modern between the Commemoration and the new Jamie L. Roberts Stadium creates a tension, causing us to pause and reflect on the institution of slavery and how we as Americans are connected to this history. <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-13\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-13-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-13-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"26\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<p>The structure measures about 20 feet long and 15 feet deep and is encircled by a wide footpath and natural grass. Its construction was intended to stand the test of time with a steel framework clad with panels of polished mirror stainless steel and tropical hardwood. It resists weathering, rot, abrasion, and insects.<\/p>\n<p>Like a lighthouse (or the North Star) the lighting system serves as a beacon, using intricate lenses and positioning to shape the light it emits. The result is an ethereal stencil of light beams, projecting the poetry on all sides. <\/p>\n<p>Construction of the Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland began in July 2019. The project was completed on October 31, 2020 and opened to the public on November 21, 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-39-13-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-13-1-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"27\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-image so-widget-sow-image-default-8b5b6f678277-39\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"sow-image-container\">\n\t\t<img \n\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/shane-lee.jpg\" width=\"1418\" height=\"710\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/shane-lee.jpg 1418w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/shane-lee-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/shane-lee-1024x513.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/shane-lee-768x385.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1418px) 100vw, 1418px\" alt=\"Side-by-side portraits of a woman with dark hair and earrings, smiling outdoors, and a man with short dark hair, smiling indoors.\" \t\tclass=\"so-widget-image\"\/>\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-14\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-14-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-14-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-slider panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"28\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-slider so-widget-smcm-slider-default-d75171398898-39\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-slider-container\"><div class=\"splide id-056bf24f-000b-4570-9ef9-5f12b50097d7 \"><button class=\"splide__toggle smcm-slider-toggle\" type=\"button\"><span class=\"splide__toggle__play\"><i class=\"fa-solid fa-play\"><\/i><\/span><span class=\"splide__toggle__pause\"><i class=\"fa-solid fa-pause\"><\/i><\/span><\/button><div class=\"splide__track\"><ul class=\"splide__list\"><li class=\"splide__slide\" data-splide-interval=\"5000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-2-768x432-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A telescopic forklift lifts a beam to workers assembling the frame of a small building on a construction site with nearby equipment and signage.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-2-768x432-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-2-768x432-1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/li><li class=\"splide__slide\" data-splide-interval=\"5000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-4-768x432-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A metal frame structure under construction stands on a circular concrete base in a field, with a ladder and tools nearby. Soccer goals and trees are visible in the background.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-4-768x432-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-4-768x432-1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/li><li class=\"splide__slide\" data-splide-interval=\"5000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-3-768x576-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Construction workers are leveling freshly poured concrete on a curved section of ground at an outdoor site, with trucks and equipment visible in the background.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-3-768x576-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-3-768x576-1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/li><li class=\"splide__slide\" data-splide-interval=\"5000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-1-768x576-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A small house structure with walls made of alternating blue, brown, and mirrored rectangular panels, standing on a concrete base in an open field.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-1-768x576-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-1-768x576-1-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/li><li class=\"splide__slide\" data-splide-interval=\"5000\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"432\" src=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-5-768x432-1.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"A partially constructed building stands in a field, with workers on a lift nearby and an informational sign about commemorating enslaved peoples in the foreground.\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-5-768x432-1.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/construction-5-768x432-1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/li><\/ul><\/div><ul class=\"splide__pagination\"><\/ul><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-15\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-15-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-15-0-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child\" data-index=\"29\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><h3 class=\"section-title\" style=\"font-weight:800; font-size:2.4em;\">About the Artists <\/h3>\n<strong>Shane Allbritton and Norman Lee, RE:site Studio<\/strong>\n<p>\nShane Allbritton and Norman Lee are the co-founders of RE:site, an art studio that explores notions of community, identity, and narrative in the context of public space. Allbritton has 20 years of experience designing interpretive spaces and interactives for cultural institutions. She is a visual storyteller versed in a range of media, including large scale murals, sculpture painting, wayfinding and design. Lee began his career as an interpretative environment designer in 2003 and was a finalist in the World Trade Center Site Memorial Competition. His work has been featured in the New York Times, USA Today, the Houston Chronicle, Art in America, and other publications. \n<\/p>\n<strong>\u201cWe envision the Commemorative connecting our lives with the lives of slaves and causing us to pause and reflect on how we as Americans are connected to this history.\u201d <\/strong>\n<p>\nIn an interview with Shane Allbritton and Norman Lee, the creators behind the commemorative, they spoke of their challenge to make the commemorative as relevant to the landscape as it was to the conversations about slavery.<\/p><\/div><\/div><div id=\"panel-39-15-0-1\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion panel-last-child\" data-index=\"30\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>The Creation of a Commemorative: An Interview with the Artists<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>What was your creative approach in trying to give voice to the College's discovery of slave quarters and honoring the find?<br \/>\nMr. Norman Lee: Our approach was to make the Commemorative as site-specific as possible. This included drawing inspiration from the archaeological research and artifacts discovered by the College, the architecture of Historic St. Mary\u2019s City, historical documents related to the plantation, as well as the formal aspects of the site itself. Also, we wanted the Commemorative to directly engage the rhythm of daily campus life as opposed to secluded or isolated from it.<\/p>\n<p>What is unique about your approach that separates this design from others honoring slavery across the country?<br \/>\nMs. Shane Allbritton: Most memorials that focus on slavery across the country tend to deal with the subject broadly in in sculptural terms. Whether they are about the entire transatlantic slave trade or specific events in history, most of these memorials use a figurative approach that are interpreting themes in universal terms. In our design, we incorporate of the actual text taken from runaway slave ads placed by slave owners that once operated plantations in and around St. Mary\u2019s City. Although the text is redacted to create poetry, the words presented are the actual words and, by definition, the voice used by the slave owners of the region and there is real site-specific power to this<\/p>\n<p>How does the Commemorative you created connect the past to the present and future?<br \/>\nNL: The Commemorative connects the past to the present and future through reflection. When viewers engage the work, they see themselves, the activity surrounding the nearby sports stadium reflected, interlaced with poetic text, coalescing into a visually resonant sculptural experience. The Commemoration juxtaposes the current site of sports field with its slave past, holding them in dramatic tension.<\/p>\n<p>What challenges did you face in bringing this project to life?<br \/>\nSA: The biggest challenge was finding historical documents related to the Mackall Broom and other nearby plantations that could be used to create powerful redacted or erasure poetry in the context of the design. Our collaborator, poet Quenton Baker, researched various types of documents related to the plantation site and eventually discovered hundreds of runaway slave ads that became the foundation of his poetry.<\/p>\n<p>NL: We were struck by how the ads were so personally descriptive of the runaway slaves, but at the same time profoundly impersonal, as the words were coming from a context of describing property. This dichotomy was particularly resonant for us as artists because it distilled the essential inhumanity of chattel slavery in our nation\u2019s history.<\/p>\n<p>What statement do you want the Commemorative to make?<br \/>\nSA: We envision the Commemorative connecting our lives with the lives of slaves and causing us to pause and reflect on how we as Americans are connected to this history.<\/p>\n<p>What kind of experience do you hope for those viewing it?<br \/>\nNL: This is a difficult question to answer as one\u2019s experience with any work of art is highly personal and subjective and dependent on the previous life experience that the viewer brings with them. It is probably easier to say what we would not want a person to experience when viewing the Commemorative, and that would be indifference.<\/p>\n<p>Are their particular aspects of this project that have special meaning for you?<br \/>\nSA: This project is a culmination of why we do what we do. As artists, we are drawn to commemorative and memorial projects that help communities to wrestle with complex and traumatic historical memories. Our approach to commemoration is defined by a sensitivity to the transcendent and an open, inclusive vision of our shared fate as a multiracial nation. Much of our past works engages difficult pasts, including themes of slavery, tension between police and community, and labor and civil rights struggle, in ways that tell hard truths and also reach toward a hopeful future.<\/p>\n<p>NL: We are also sensitive to the reality of this critical moment in our nation\u2019s story. We are seeing an unprecedented wave of protest in defense of Black lives, the removal of Confederate monuments and symbols around the nation, calls to make Juneteenth a national holiday, and a renewed examination of racially insensitive aspects of popular culture and media. In this context, we are humbled and honored to realize a project that contributes to this historic narrative.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-16\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-16-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-16-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-image panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"31\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-image so-widget-sow-image-default-8b5b6f678277-39\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"sow-image-container\">\n\t\t<img \n\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/Quenton.jpg\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/Quenton.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/Quenton-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/Quenton-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/app\/uploads\/sites\/125\/2026\/06\/Quenton-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" alt=\"A man with glasses, an afro hairstyle, and a beard is wearing a blue floral-patterned shirt and a beaded necklace, facing slightly to the right.\" \t\tclass=\"so-widget-image\"\/>\n\t<\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pgc-39-16-1\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-16-1-0\" class=\"widget_text so-panel widget widget_custom_html panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"32\" ><div class=\"textwidget custom-html-widget\"><strong>Quenton Baker<\/strong>\n<p>\nQuenton Baker is a poet, educator, and Cave Canem fellow. His current focus is Black interiority and the afterlife of slavery. Baker has an MFA in poetry from the University of Southern Maine and is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee. His work has appeared in The Offing, Jubilat, Vinyl, The Rumpus and other publications. \n<\/p>\n<strong>\u201cI would love the Commemorative to be a possibility, the beginning of an investigative process, a reason to ask questions about what it means to live in a country capable of starting its history as this one did, with stolen land and stolen bodies.\u201d<\/strong><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-39-17\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-39-17-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-39-17-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_smcm-accordion panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"33\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-smcm-accordion so-widget-smcm-accordion-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><div class=\"smcm-accordion  navy\"><div class=\"title-container\"><h3>Commemorative poet, Mr. Quenton Baker, offered insight into his process \u2014 amplifying the voices of those who were silenced, using the words of those who silenced them.<\/h3><i class=\"fa-solid fa-plus open-close\" ><\/i><\/div><div class=\"smcm-accordion-content\"> <div class=\"smcm-ac-content-wrapper\"><p>What was your creative approach in trying to give voice to the College's discovery of slave quarters and honoring the find?<br \/>\nThe three things that I wanted to keep in mind above all were: this is a local project and involving the community and keeping it focused on St. Mary\u2019s County was vital; to ground whatever work that came out of this process in research, maintain a text-based approach; and to not project myself backwards through time, or to try and speak for or speak through folks, but rather to bear witness.<\/p>\n<p>What is unique about your approach that separates this design from others honoring slavery across the country?<br \/>\nI think the classic mistake in dealing with any type of history, especially the history of enslaved people in this country, is obliterating your subject. I can\u2019t know or imagine or deduce what it meant to be enslaved, or what it was like inside the mind and body of the people we are honoring. And I wouldn\u2019t want to try. I believe that in trying to speak for these dead, speak for the objectified and violated, you run the risk of obliterating their positionality, as fraught and as difficult as it might have been. The stark reality is that the enslaved in St. Mary\u2019s County were not people. They were to themselves, and they are to me, but they did not occupy that role in the time and locations they lived in. That is an impossible thing to consider and an impossible thing to understand. And yet, you have to keep it in mind. We invite erasure and, indeed, a kind of obliteration when we forget that.<\/p>\n<p>How does the Commemorative you created connect the past to the present and future?<br \/>\nAny time we consider the slave we are connecting the past to the present and future. Slavery has been abolished, but the anti-blackness and realities of black non-being which precipitated the system of chattel slavery have not. It\u2019s the same animus that lurked and lurks inside Jim Crow, mass incarceration, the general continued lack of access to healthcare, education, employment, safety that defines black life. We live in what Saidiya Hartman would call the \u201cafterlife of slavery,\u201d or what Christina Sharpe would call its wake. To consider the slave is to consider how the slave is made, and how it can, if it can, be unmade. And that consideration leads us to ask: has it? And if so, how can we explain what we see around us, what we know to be true? We cannot. And then we know our grim inheritance, that there is still a project to be completed in the present and in the future.<\/p>\n<p>What challenges did you face in bringing this project to life?<br \/>\nThe most difficult obstacle for me was the text and the subject. It\u2019s not easy or fun to engage with chattel slavery. It\u2019s draining, it\u2019s damaging, it\u2019s an endeavor. To work in the mode of erasure poetry, you have to hold the text within yourself, in a way. Letting 240 runaway slave ads live inside of you for months takes a toll.<\/p>\n<p>What statement do you want the Commemorative to make?<br \/>\nI think about this project less as an opportunity to make a statement and more as a kind of opening. I would love the Commemorative to be a possibility, the beginning of an investigative process, a reason to ask questions about what it means to live in a country capable of starting its history as this one did, with stolen land and stolen bodies.<\/p>\n<p>What kind of experience do you hope for those viewing it?<br \/>\nAn engaged one.<\/p>\n<p>Are their particular aspects of this project that have special meaning for you?<br \/>\nThe entire project has profoundly special meaning to me. I\u2019m honored to have been a part of it.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Commemorative to Enslaved Peoples of Southern Maryland provides visitors with the space to acknowledge and learn from the lives of those who once toiled here, while providing a place for reflection and introspection about the nature of slavery and its connections to modern society. Learn and Reflect with Us So we may better understand [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":163,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"full-width-content","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-39","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","entry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":368,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39\/revisions\/368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/honoring-enslaved\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}