Inequality in Bronze: Monumental Plantation Legacies

Stenton, a historic house museum, will engage its Northwest Philadelphia community in the commissioning of a new memorial to Dinah, an enslaved woman who lived at the site and who is credited with saving Stenton from burning by the British in 1777. Acknowledging the current national conversation about the role of public monuments, Inequality in Bronze addresses the absence of memorials to Africans and African Americans who lived as slaves, and the role that historic sites can play in recognizing their contributions to America’s history in public spaces. A series of workshops and public charrettes will be facilitated by Dina Bailey, director of methodology and practice for the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, and curator Neysa Page-Lieberman, director and chief curator of the Chicago-based public art project Wabash Arts Corridor. Stenton will gather public input to capture what matters most to neighborhood residents in the representation of Dinah at Stenton, and to ultimately select an artist for the commission. Irma Gardner Hammond, a storyteller who portrays Dinah, will serve a residency at Stenton, incorporating new research and participating in the community conversations to enhance her first-person interpretation.

Additional unrestricted funds are added to each grant for general operating support.