Tag: black history month

Does a Sculptor Think About Snow?

Since February is Black History Month, Ed and I have been photographing subjects that help us think about this aspect of Boston's past. The sculpture of slave and poet Phillis Wheatley on the Boston Women's Memorial has long been one of my favorite photographic models. (Click on the photo for a larger view.)

At the dedication ceremony, memorial sculptor Meredith Bergmann said,

“External, legal freedom was denied to Phillis Wheatley. But she sought the inner freedom that enabled her to write and here she makes her pedestal a desk.”

I've read Bergmann's proposal for the memorial so I know how much thought she put into the smallest details of this artwork. But, I wonder if she considered how serene Phillis would seem with snowdrifts wrapping her and her desk? Did she plan for the light to outline this young face against the misty haze of winter trees?

Planned or not, the result can be stunning in the right light and, on one of our rare partly sunny days last week, I found that light.

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Penny Cherubino

February 9, 2015
Oldways: African Heritage & Health Week – February 1st – 7th

Designated days or weeks like African Heritage & Health Week sponsored by Oldways can be an opportunity to learn something new about a culture and explore new tastes.

I follow Oldways on Twitter and was happy to see them exploring the heritage foods of Africa during Black History Month.

My Introduction to African Foodways

In 2002, I attended a Boston University Seminar on the African Diaspora and how it impacted new world food. Featured speaker Doctor Jessica B. Harris inspired me to learn more about African culinary culture.

My copy of Iron Pots and Wooden Spoons: Africa's Gifts to New World Cooking has an older cover than the one for sale today. (And, I had to remove a bunch of page markers before I photographed it.) But, the fact that it was redesigned and is still currently available as a new book speaks highly of the value cooks like me place on great resources like this.

If you would like to be inspired as I was, I recommend sampling Dr. Harris' podcast, My Welcome Table.

Oldways Resources

As a part of African Heritage & Health Week, Oldways has created an African Heritage Dine-Around-Town webpage where you can find places to try African food. They have a few in the Boston area, but I'm sure our readers know of more and might add their favorites in the comments. (Or, send them to @BostonZest on Twitter and I'll add them.)

The food above is from Lucy Ethiopian Cafe which we enjoy. We love sharing the communal tray of food on Injera bread and learning more about this culture from the people there.

Related Posts:

Lucy Ethiopian Cafe Inspires Cultural Curiosity

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2011-2015 Penny Cherubino

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January 29, 2015
Emancipation Statue in Park Square, Abraham Lincoln In Boston

We were looking for a great photo for our What's Open on Presidents' Day Post when we came across this photo of Abraham Lincoln as he was memorialized by sculptor Thomas Ball in the Emancipation Memorial or Emancipation Statue.

Since tomorrow is the actual date of Lincoln's birth, we thought we'd share it with our readers. Perhaps, some of you will stop by and see it to honor the man and the spirit of Black History Month.

(Photograph from the Boston Public Library Collection circa 1877-1895)

It's located in Park Square, but we had never noticed the monument before this research pointed us to it. The memorial is still there today but the view that once existed from the Boston Common and Statehouse is now blocked.

Here's how it looked circa 1930 in this photo from the Leslie Jones Collection at the Boston Public Library.

To orient yourself with the photo above, here's the area (with the Emancipaton Statue as a green triangle just below the words Park Square) from the 1912 Bromley Atlas. (Source: State Library of Massachusetts.)

About the Emancipation Statue

In Boston, this is called the Emancipation Statue. Moses Kimball gave the sculpture to the city in 1874. It's a copy of the original work by Thomas Ball called the Emancipation Memorial in Washington DC.

The Smithsonian American Art Museums descibes the statue in their inventory of outdoor sculputure.

" A portrait of Abraham Lincoln standing by a kneeling male slave, his proper left hand raised as he is about to emancipate the slave. In his proper right hand, which rests on a bronze podium, Lincoln holds an unrolled copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. To the rear of the figures is a whipping post, chains, shackles, and a frayed whip. On each corner of the podium are fasces and around the base of the podium are thirteen stars. A bas-relief of George Washington decorates the angled face of the podium and a Union shield decorates the inner face of the podium."

The artiist, Thomas Ball, was born in Charlestown and is also the sculptor of the Public Garden's iconic statue of George Washington.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: from the Boston Public Library and State Library of Massachusetts

February 11, 2014
Emancipation Statue in Park Square, Abraham Lincoln In Boston

We were looking for a great photo for our What's Open on Presidents' Day Post when we came across this photo of Abraham Lincoln as he was memorialized by sculptor Thomas Ball in the Emancipation Memorial or Emancipation Statue.

Since tomorrow is the actual date of Lincoln's birth, we thought we'd share it with our readers. Perhaps, some of you will stop by and see it to honor the man and the spirit of Black History Month.

(Photograph from the Boston Public Library Collection circa 1877-1895)

It's located in Park Square, but we had never noticed the monument before this research pointed us to it. The memorial is still there today but the view that once existed from the Boston Common and Statehouse is now blocked.

Here's how it looked circa 1930 in this photo from the Leslie Jones Collection at the Boston Public Library.

To orient yourself with the photo above, here's the area (with the Emancipaton Statue as a green triangle just below the words Park Square) from the 1912 Bromley Atlas. (Source: State Library of Massachusetts.)

About the Emancipation Statue

In Boston, this is called the Emancipation Statue. Moses Kimball gave the sculpture to the city in 1874. It's a copy of the original work by Thomas Ball called the Emancipation Memorial in Washington DC.

The Smithsonian American Art Museums descibes the statue in their inventory of outdoor sculputure.

" A portrait of Abraham Lincoln standing by a kneeling male slave, his proper left hand raised as he is about to emancipate the slave. In his proper right hand, which rests on a bronze podium, Lincoln holds an unrolled copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. To the rear of the figures is a whipping post, chains, shackles, and a frayed whip. On each corner of the podium are fasces and around the base of the podium are thirteen stars. A bas-relief of George Washington decorates the angled face of the podium and a Union shield decorates the inner face of the podium."

The artiist, Thomas Ball, was born in Charlestown and is also the sculptor of the Public Garden's iconic statue of George Washington.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: from the Boston Public Library and State Library of Massachusetts

February 11, 2014
Emancipation Statue in Park Square, Abraham Lincoln In Boston

We were looking for a great photo for our What's Open on Presidents' Day Post when we came across this photo of Abraham Lincoln as he was memorialized by sculptor Thomas Ball in the Emancipation Memorial or Emancipation Statue.

Since tomorrow is the actual date of Lincoln's birth, we thought we'd share it with our readers. Perhaps, some of you will stop by and see it to honor the man and the spirit of Black History Month.

(Photograph from the Boston Public Library Collection circa 1877-1895)

It's located in Park Square, but we had never noticed the monument before this research pointed us to it. The memorial is still there today but the view that once existed from the Boston Common and Statehouse is now blocked.

Here's how it looked circa 1930 in this photo from the Leslie Jones Collection at the Boston Public Library.

To orient yourself with the photo above, here's the area (with the Emancipaton Statue as a green triangle just below the words Park Square) from the 1912 Bromley Atlas. (Source: State Library of Massachusetts.)

About the Emancipation Statue

In Boston, this is called the Emancipation Statue. Moses Kimball gave the sculpture to the city in 1874. It's a copy of the original work by Thomas Ball called the Emancipation Memorial in Washington DC.

The Smithsonian American Art Museums descibes the statue in their inventory of outdoor sculputure.

" A portrait of Abraham Lincoln standing by a kneeling male slave, his proper left hand raised as he is about to emancipate the slave. In his proper right hand, which rests on a bronze podium, Lincoln holds an unrolled copy of the Emancipation Proclamation. To the rear of the figures is a whipping post, chains, shackles, and a frayed whip. On each corner of the podium are fasces and around the base of the podium are thirteen stars. A bas-relief of George Washington decorates the angled face of the podium and a Union shield decorates the inner face of the podium."

The artiist, Thomas Ball, was born in Charlestown and is also the sculptor of the Public Garden's iconic statue of George Washington.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: from the Boston Public Library and State Library of Massachusetts

February 11, 2014