Slavery Exhibit on SMU鈥檚 Oakland Campus

By: Debra Holtz

In honor of Black History Month, 海角直播 (SMU) is hosting a history exhibit about the daily lives of enslaved people and those who benefitted from slavery during the colonial era.

The exhibit 鈥 鈥 will be on view in the atrium of the Health Education Center on SMU鈥檚 Oakland campus until March 2. It was developed and produced by the at the National Institutes of Health. 

Hai-Thom Sota, director of the John A. Graziano Memorial Library, said she welcomes the opportunity to add to the SMU conversation about diversity and African-American history by booking relevant traveling exhibits.

鈥淚n addition to providing books and journals, I think it鈥檚 important for the library to build and contribute to the campus community and this is one way of doing so,鈥 she said.

The display of six panels chronicles life at Mount Vernon, the Virginia plantation owned by George Washington during the 18th century, demonstrating how America鈥檚 first president relied on the skills and labor of slaves for much of his wealth. It focuses on the hard work of slaves to grow food and prepare meals under sometimes chaotic and dangerous conditions.

鈥淭oo often we look back to the past as this nostalgic perfect time, but I think it鈥檚 important to unpack history and these exhibits do it in a non-threatening manner,鈥  said Sota.

Past exhibits hosted by the SMU library have included:

路&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;Confronting Violence: Improving Women鈥檚 Lives

路&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons

路&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;&苍产蝉辫;Binding Wounds, and Pushing Boundaries: African Americans in Civil War Medicine

Next month, the library will be hosting Pictures of Nursing: The Zwerdling Postcard CollectionPhysician Assistants: Collaboration and Care will be on display next year.