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Murals

Walls of Slavery, Walls of Freedom

This is first major collection of murals focused on resistance, empowerment and slavery. It currently brings together murals from the United States from the 1920s to present day, with a large focus on murals depicting historical slavery and antislavery. In this collection, we see the abolitionists and heroic figures of black history emerge from community walls as ancestors for 20th-century social justice leaders.

Creator: Hannah Jeffery
Project Director: Zoe Trodd

Great African Americans

An unknown artist painted this mural in Harlem, New York City, on the facade of Dining Heritage. It depicts the abolitionists Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, as well as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Jesse Jackson and Malcolm X. It was destroyed in 2015.

Frederick Douglass Recreation Center Mural

Painted in 2012 by MTC Studio, the mural depicts the black abolitionist Frederick Douglass shaking hands with President Abraham Lincoln. An older version of Douglass is offset to the right side of the mural. The mural site is adjacent to the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site in Anacostia,…

Wall of Choices

In 1970, John Pitman Weber of the Chicago Public Art Group created a mural on the wall of the Christopher Settlement House on the north side of Chicago. The mural faces a children’s playground in a predominantly white working-class area of the city and according to Weber, the neighbourhood’s…

Central Square Mural

In 2015, muralists David Fichter, Yetti Frenkel and Joshua Winer created a 17-foot, 3 storey mural titled Central Square Mural in the city of Lynn, Massachusetts. With input from local residents and schoolchildren, the muralists created a historic panoramic at 25 Exchange Street. Assembled in two…

Wall of Black Heroes

In 2006, muralist Joseph Tiberino, along with his sons Gabe and Raphael, painted Wall of Black Heroes for the African American Museum of Philadelphia. When creating the mural, the idea was to provide a portable piece of work that would later be housed in the streets. Measuring 4ft by 12ft, the mural…

Educational Mural

This mural was painted in the Bronx, New York City by an unnamed artist and depicts Frederick Douglass in the later years of his life, and the phrase "Education is the pathway to freedom." it had been destroyed by 2016.

Asheville Mural

This mural was created by Harper Leich in Asheville, North Carolina in 2012 but had been destroyed by 2016. It includes the faces of Frederick Douglass, Maya Angelou, and George Washington Carver.

Sim's Corner Wall of Respect

In 2009, Wardell McClain created a mural on South Champlain Avenue in Chicago, Illinois titled Sim's Corner Wall of Respect, that took its inspiration from the 1967 mural, Wall of Respect. It includes the faces of the abolitonists Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and Sojourner Truth as well as…

Picturing Our Dreams

Picturing Our Dreams is by incarcerated youth at the Monroe Correctional Facility in Rochester, New York. The mural was created in collaboration with a New York State Library Centre writer, visual artist and Rochester School District teachers. The ideology behind the mural was that inmates could…

Young Frederick Douglass' Quest to Read

In 2000, muralist Gary Mullen created a mural that depicts how abolitionist Fredrick Douglass learned to read. It is located in the city of Baltimore, where the abolitionist spent the formative years of his life as a slave, and where he taught himself to read. Titled Young Frederick Douglass’…

I Am, Yo Soy/Wall Therapy

As part of a Rochester WALL\THERAPY mural project in 2013, muralist Lunar New Year used Trayvon Martin, a young Frederick Douglass, and a local resident called Christopher to depict three possible paths of African American manhood in his mural I Am/Yo Soy. The young boy on the edge of the mural…

North Lawndale Mural

A teacher at North Lawndale College Preparatory Charter High School, Katie Bordner, created this mural with her students in 2012. It depicts the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, a mother and child and an African backdrop.

Pathfinder Mural

In 1988, Mike Alewitz designed and began to direct the creation of Pathfinder Mural in New York City’s West Village. The mural, measuring 79 x 85 feet, was an international collaboration of 80 artists from 20 different countries including Argentina, Canada, Iran, New Zealand, Nicaragua and…

The Last Judgement

This mural, part of a wider series called La Lucha Continua/The Struggle Continues, is split into two halves. The bottom half shows anonymous arms merchants in suits, and the top portrait shows portraits of local residents alongside the leaders Nelson Mandela, Daniel Ortega, Robert F. Williams…

Douglass High School Mural

In 1990, an unnamed artist completed a mural inside Douglass High School in Baltimore. The mural was in a corridor and depicted black and white scenes of slavery in the background, and a colour version of the abolitionist Frederick Douglass in the foreground.

Racism

In 1970, a mural titled Racism appeared in the Cabrini-Green Housing Projects in Chicago’s southside. It celebrated black women who had been key participants in the struggle for black liberation. The mural depicted the faces of Nina Simone, Angela Davis and Kathleen Cleaver, along with the names…

A Little Help From Our Friends

In 2008, Baltimore Green Construction and Rebuilding Together Baltimore contacted Dr. Bob Hieronimus. They asked him to participate in a renovation project throughout the city, including a complete recreation of the 1996 mural A Little Help from Our Friends. The mural is located at Johns Hopkins…

Underground Railroad

In 2012, Mexican muralist Luis Zarate created the mural Underground Railroad on Bay Street in Sodus Point, Wayne County in upstate New York. Sponsored by the Neighborhood Association of Sodus Point, the mural depicts the involvement of Sodus Point in the Underground Railroad of the 1850s. Captain…

When Women Pursue Justice

In 2005, Artmakers Inc. created a large-scale political mural titled When Women Pursue Justice. During the genesis of the mural, it seemed like an overly ambitious project with little funding, and a heavy reliance on the generosity of its collaborators. Located in Brooklyn, at the busy intersection…

Migrations

In 1999, artist Christopher Wynter created a mosaic installation at the Cathedral Parkway subway station in Harlem. He explained that the 3-part mosaic series titled Migrations “present the ideas of uprooting, migration, and progress in symbolic form." The installation features Frederick Douglass…

Antislavery Usable Past

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