Lincolnville: St. Augustine, Florida: January 28, 2021

Lincolnville, and its cultural center that we visited, is an area that expresses the rich history of black Americans in both Saint Augustine and the United States as a whole. The town was founded by freedmen and women in 1866, and the cultural center and museum chronicle 450 years of the history of black Americans. 

For more information about Lincolnville and the cultural center please visit its website:  https://www.lincolnvillemuseum.org/

-Artifacts-

Artifact #1

This is a photo of a recreation of the Monumento a la Constucion (monument to the constitution) that is present in the Plaza de la Constitucion. The original monument was built to honor the Spanish Constitution. However, in this artistic interpretation of the monument, the artists put nails in the monument to symbolize the trials and hardships that the constitution has been through while defending things such as Freedom, Democracy, Human Rights, and Compassion. 

Artifact #2

This piece of propaganda is called "Emancipation" and it is a piece by Thomas Nast done to honor and celebrate emancipation as well as President Lincoln.

-Exterior Photos-

Exterior Photo #1

This photo was taken in front of the Lincolnville Cultural Center of the actual Museum itself.

Exterior Photo #2

This photo was also taken in front of the Lincolnville cultural center and it is of a model book that has "I have a dream" written in it which is a reference to Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous speech. On the next page, it says MLK Jr. 

-Images in Conversation with the Site-

Image in Conversation #1

I chose this image because this is the actual Monumento a la Constitucion and so I thought it would be good if other people viewing this could see the actual monument and what the artist's recreation was based on.

Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=constitution+monument+st+augustine&newwindow=1&rlz=1CAOTWH_enUS900&sxsrf=ALeKk00lrxBEoERbBBOiIy1tLP_2JALsBQ:1612476771987&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiWgc-JoNHuAhVH11kKHfDaAhQQ_AUoAXoECBIQAw#imgrc=wXCCgIyCft2wrM

Image in Conversation #2

This image is one that is in conversation with the Thomas Nast piece because in both pieces of propaganda the slaves don't seem to have agency and the pieces almost appear to be more about Lincoln freeing them than about the slaves actually taking their freedom.

Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=emancipation+propaganda&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiR-b2KoNHuAhVHzlkKHTt7BSUQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=emancipation+propaganda&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIGCAAQCBAeOgQIIxAnOgcIIxDqAhAnOggIABCxAxCDAToFCAAQsQM6BAgAEEM6BwgAELEDEEM6AggAOgYIABAKEBhQo_0GWJz7B2Cs_AdoBXAAeASAAdUBiAHuMpIBBzI2LjMyLjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ7ABCsABAQ&sclient=img&ei=ZXEcYNGyMMec5wK79pWoAg&rlz=1CAOTWH_enUS900#imgrc=9IyGlw8ejRLxFM

-The English 202 Connection-

"Repressive societies always seemed to understand the danger of "wrong" ideas." - Dana (Kindred, Butler, 141). The reason that I selected this passage is because I believe that a lot of the artifacts such as the constitution monument and the artwork depicting emancipation that are documented in this blog post represent freedom or obtaining freedom and they lead people to think deeply about the concept of freedom. And these ideas and thoughts about freedom would have been considered the "wrong ideas" that Dana was talking about. 

-Creative Component-

The image above is one that I took and edited of the artist's interpretation of the Monumento a la Constucion. When editing I made the image darker to add a more ominous and dramatic effect and also increased the contrast and color to emphasize and symbolize the unique challenges that the nails represent.