Assumption Students Stage Exhibit on Race in America at American Antiquarian Society
Assumption students have created an exhibit, consisting of a collection of student-designed posters, at the American Antiquarian Society entitled, “From Frederick Douglass to Ferguson: Graphic Design Projects on Race in Modern America Inspired by the Collections of the American Antiquarian Society.”
The exhibit is the result of collaborative efforts between the American Antiquarian Society (AAS) and two Assumption professors, Carl Robert Keyes (History) and Lynn Simmons (Graphic Design). For the 2015-2016 academic year, Prof. Keyes, an AAS member, and Simmons are teaching two linked courses that form the “Express Yourself: Visual Messages and Historical Narratives” learning community for first-year students at Assumption.
One of the most socially engaging types of visual communication is in the form of the poster through the use of typographic elements and images. As a vehicle for delivering messages and information, the poster has its roots in the broadsides of the 18th and 19th centuries. To this day, posters continue to be a widely effective use of communication. From advocacy of social and political causes to advertising, propaganda, event announcements, and self-expression, posters are a voice for public address.
“In a nutshell, we wanted students to apply the past — both American history and the history of graphic design — to their understanding of the present and the world in which we live,” said Carl Robert Keyes, associate professor of history at Assumption. “We wanted them to do this along multiple trajectories, including consideration of the history of racism and race relations and modes for communicating and participating in public and civic discourse.”
The content of the 14 student posters reference graphic arts materials from the American Antiquarian Society collections; news quotes; excerpts from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave: Written by Himself (1845); quotations from Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts’s article “The Worth of Black Men, from Slavery to Ferguson”; and/or the Black Lives Matter website describing the escalating violence and discrimination toward African Americans during the last few years.
The student posters are on display through March 31, 2016 in the American Antiquarian Society Reading Room, 185 Salisbury St., Worcester. AAS offers public tours every Wednesday at 3 p.m.