Exhibition and Publication Project Update December 2015
Jeanine Michna-Bales
7324 Gaston Ave., #124-118, Dallas, TX 75214
JMBalesPhotography.com | 214.934.6083
CONTENTS | THROUGH DARKNESS TO LIGHT: Seeking Freedom on the Underground Railroad
PROJECT INTENTIONS ................................................................... 03 - 04
Overview and Background
Project Purpose
Traveling Exhibition
Fine
Artduring
Prints
They left
the middle of the night – oftentimes carrying little more than the knowledge that
ABOUT THE ARTIST: Jeanine Michna-Bales ................................ 05
Biography
Résumé | CV [abbreviated]
Through Darkness to Light: Seeking Freedom on the Underground Railroad
MAP OF DOCUMENTED ROUTE .................................................. 02
Mother Nature could bring to bear. Occasionally, they were guided from one secret, safe location to
moss grows on the north side of trees. An estimated 100,000 slaves between 1800 and the end of
PROJECT
STATUS .............................................................................. 04
The Civil War in
1865 chose to embark on this journey of untold hardships in search of freedom. They
Exhibition
Prints
Publication
moved in constant fear of being killed outright or recaptured then returned and beaten as an example
theTIMELINE
next by an ever-changing,
clandestine
the Underground Railroad. Whether
OF SLAVERY
INgroup
THEknown
U.S.as............................................
09 they
of what would
happen to..........................................................................
others who might choose to run. Under the cover of darkness,
CONTACT
DETAILS
04 ‘fugitives’
north to the Canadian border, this series of photographs can help us imagine what the long road to
traveled roughly 20 miles each night traversing rugged terrain while enduring all the hardships that
were slaves trying to escape or free blacks and whites trying to help, both sides risked everything for
SELECTED IMAGES ............................................................................ 06 - 09
Complete Caption Information .................................................... 10 - 11
the cause of freedom. From the cotton plantations just South of Natchitoches, Louisiana all the way
freedom may have looked like as seen through the eyes of one of those who made this epic journey.
l
The year is 1846 - a slave on a Louisiana
plantation has just had his family taken away
to be sold at the slave market in nearby New
Orleans. A final act of cruelty that compels
him to break the bonds of slavery and embark
on an epic, 1,300 mile journey that will take
roughly three months. He is seeking freedom
on the Underground Railroad.
i
Map of the documented route, ca. 1848
02
PROJECT INTENTIONS | THROUGH DARKNESS TO LIGHT: Seeking Freedom on the Underground Railroad
Overview and Background
They left during the middle of the night—oftentimes carrying little
more than the knowledge that moss grows on the north side of trees. An
estimated 100,000 slaves between 1800 and the end of The Civil War in
1865 chose to embark on this journey of untold hardships in search of
freedom. They moved in constant fear of being killed outright or
recaptured then
returned and beaten as
an example of what
would happen to others
who might choose to
run. Under the cover of
darkness, ‘fugitives’
traveled roughly 20
miles each night
traversing rugged
terrain while enduring
all the hardships that
Mother Nature could
bring to bear.
Occasionally, they were
guided from one secret,
safe location to the next
by an ever-changing,
clandestine group
known as the
Underground Railroad.
Whether they were
slaves trying to escape
or free blacks and whites trying to help, both sides risked everything for
the cause of freedom. From the cotton plantations just South of
Natchitoches, Louisiana all the way north to the Canadian border, this
series of photographs can help us imagine what the long road to freedom
may have looked like as seen through the eyes of one of those who made
this epic journey.
Photographer Jeanine Michna-Bales has spent over a decade
meticulously researching ‘fugitive’ slaves and the ways they escaped to
freedom. Due to the secrecy surrounding the Underground Railroad,
research is still coming to light. The unnumbered routes of the Railroad
encompassed countless square miles. The path Michna-Bales documented
encompasses roughly 2,000 miles. It is based off of actual sites, cities and
places that freedom-seekers passed through during their journey. Some
locations are word-of-mouth and careful consideration has been taken into
account in relation to this. But, to disregard these places seems equally
dangerous because of the verbal nature of the Railroad itself.
Project Purpose
Many books have been written over the years on the subject, but because
of its secretive nature, there is very little visual documentation of the
Underground Railroad. The goal of this project is to provide a sense of
what it would be like to take this journey out of bondage; to run in fear for
roughly three months with very little help along the way, seeking that
fundamental human right of freedom. In today’s America, as we become
more and more diverse and cross-cultural, Michna-Bales believes that an
appreciation and understanding of the experience—and those who lived
through it—is more relevant than ever. The Underground Railroad united
people from different races, genders, social levels, religions and regions in a
common and worthwhile cause. It was the first Civil Rights Movement
within America. Michna-Bales hopes the project makes people want to
learn more, ask questions and open a dialogue on the subject, and in the
end, provide a better understanding of where we all came from.
03
PROJECT INTENTIONS CONT’d | THROUGH DARKNESS TO LIGHT: Seeking Freedom on the Underground Railroad
Fine Art Prints
Images are captured digitally and are printed in three different sizes:
18 x 12.5, 24.5 x 17 and 36 x 25 as digital chromogenic prints on Kodak
Endura Premier Lustre paper. The panoramic image is printed at 12.5 x 52,
17 x 70.75 and 104 x 25. All sizes are in inches. Edition sizes for the
series are 15, 9 and 8 respectively (+ 3 artist proofs).
PROJECT STATUS
Exhibition Prints
An exhibition of photographs can be generated at this time and many
of the images from the series have already been included in various group
shows around the country. Ten images are currently on display in the
Moving Walls 23: Journeys group exhibition at the Open Society Foundations
offices in New York City through May of 2016.
The Curve exhibition at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Publication from Princeton Architectural Press
Traveling Exhibition
The artist is currently working with her editor at Princeton Architectural
Press fine-tuning the trade publication on the series. It will feature all 82 of
the original journey photographs along with quotes from various Railroad
pariticipants, a diverse sampling of related ephermera and various essays
about the history of slavery and the Railroad and its relevance to our
society today. Release date is February of 2017.
Mid-America Arts Alliance, working with ExhibitsUSA, is currently
booking a 5-year tour in 7-week increments. It will launch in February
of 2017 and is geared towards local and regional venues. The exhibition
will feature about 50 original journey images accompanied by facsimilies
of historical documents, newspaper ads, personal correspondence from
abolitionists, actual freedom-seeker narratives and more that together
tell the story of the Underground Railroad.
Each image in the series is produced as a digital chromogenic print on
Kodak Endura Premier Lustre paper. In addition to the journey images
and ephemera, quotes from Underground Railroad participants will be
intermixed, in order to bring their voices back to life. Extended captions
adding personal, regional and historical context will add an additional
layer of context.
The artist is also looking into a Fine Art Traveling Exhibition that will
mount all 82 of the journey images and will travel National and
International Fine Art Museums.
CONTACT DETAILS
To discuss bringing this exhibition to your community, or to acquire
fine prints, please contact the artist directly via email or phone. For the
ExhibitsUSA Traveling Exhibition, please visit eusa.org/exhibit/Underground
or contact Kathy Dowell at Mid-America Arts Alliance.
Jeanine Michna-Bales
7324 Gaston Ave., #124-118, Dallas, TX 75214
JMBalesPhotography.com | 214.934.6083
04
ABOUT THE ARTIST | THROUGH DARKNESS TO LIGHT: Seeking Freedom on the Underground Railroad
CV | Résumé MORE ONLINE
Biography
Solo Exhibitions
2017– 2022Through Darkness to Light; The Underground Railroad: Photographs
of a Path to Freedom; ExhibitsUSA; Various Venues in U.S. and Canada
2017
Through Darkness to Light; Arnika Dawkins Gallery; Atlanta, GA
2015
Through Darkness to Light; Denison Museum; Granville, OH
Group Exhibitions
2016
Frack-tured; Perspectives Group Exhibition; Longview Museum of Fine
Arts; Longview, TX; Jan. 16th –Feb. 20th
2015
Frack-tured; Newspace Now: 2015 Members’ Salon Group Exhibition;
Newspace Center for Photography; Portland, OR
Through Darkness to Light; Critical Mass Top 50 Group Exhibition;
GuatePhoto International Photography Festival; Antigua, Guatemala
Through Darkness to Light; Moving Walls 23: Journeys Group Exhibition;
Open Society Foundations; New York, NY; Moves to Washington D.C. in 2016
Through Darkness to Light; Southern Exposure: Portraits of a
Changing Landscape Group Exhibition; MOCA | Jacksonville, FL
2014
Through Darkness to Light; Newspace Now: 2014 Members’ Salon Group
Exhibition; Newspace Center for Photography; Portland, OR
Through Darkness to Light; The Curve Group Exhibition; CENTER Award
Winners Traveling Show; Colorado Photographic
Arts Center; Denver, CO
Through Darkness to Light and Fallout; 32nd Annual Juried
Membership Exhibition; Juror Malcolm Daniel; Houston Center for
Photography; Houston, TX
Through Darkness to Light; The Curve Group Exhibition; CENTER
Award Winners Show; Center for Contemporary Arts; Santa Fe, NM
Through Darkness to Light; NOPA Member’s Exhibition; New Orleans
Photo Alliance; New Orleans, LA
Awards
2015
Through Darkness to Light; [2015 and 2014] Lange-Taylor Prize
Semifinalist; Center for Documentary Studies; Duke University
2014
Through Darkness to Light; 2014 CDS/Honickman First Book Prize Finalist;
Center for Documentary Studies; Duke University
Critical Mass Top 50; Photolucida; Portland, OR
Beth Block Juried Membership Honoraria; Houston Center for Photography
Michna-Bales’ work explores the relationships between what has occurred, or
is occurring, in our society and how people have chosen to react to those events.
She throughly researches each topic - considering different viewpoints, causes
and effects and political climates - and often incorporates that research into her
projects through extended captions, placed text, and/or audio.
Whether exploring the darkened stations along the Underground Railroad,
long-forgotten nuclear fallout shelters, or the invisible earthquake epicenters of
environmental turmoil, she seeks out places that are hidden all around us in plain
sight. Each, with its own story begging to be told and lessons waiting to be shared.
Images from Through Darkness to Light: Seeking Freedom on the Underground
Railroad have appeared in group shows around the United States, including
Moving Walls 23: Journeys currently at Open Society Foundations in New York,
Southern Exposure: Portraits of a Changing Landscape at MOCA | Jacksonville
and have been featured in numerous online blogs and publications, including
Transition from Harvard University, Geo Histoire, Lenscratch, and Wired Raw File.
In 2014, she was named to the Photolucida Critical Mass Top 50. A publication of
her Underground Railroad series will be released in February 2017 from Princeton
Architectural Press. And a traveling exhibition of the same body of work will
launch at the same time to be shown in various venues across the United States and
Canada for five years.
Southern Exposure: Portraits of a Changing Landscape Group Exhibition at MOCA | Jacksonville in 2015. Participating Artists were
Jeanine Michna-Bales, William Christenberry, Deborah Luster, Sally Mann, Richard Misrach, Andrew Moore and Alec Soth.
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Through Darkness to Light: Seeking Freedom on the Underground Railroad [page 4]
[80]
Jeanine Michna-Bales JMBalesPhotography.com
[81]
[82]
7324 Gaston Avenue, #124-118, Dallas, TX 75214
[email protected] | 214.934.6083
[83]
Through Darkness to Light: Seeking Freedom on the Underground Railroad
15th Amendment is ratified, giving African American men the right to vote 1870
The 13th Amendment to the Constituion is ratified, prohibiting slavery 1865
Civil War ends 1865
1612 First commercial tobacco crop raised in Jamestown, VA; production is at 20,000 lbs.
Massachusetts 54th regiment of African American troops marches to combat in the Civil War 1863
1775 Revolutionary War begins; Black Minutemen participate in the fighting
Civil War begins 1861
1776 The Declaration of Independence signed, declaring “All men are created equal”; eventhough slavery remains legal in all 13 of the newly-established states
4 million total slaves in the U.S. or 13% of the total population 1861
1777 Vermont amends its constitution to ban slavery
Abraham Lincoln is elected President, angering the Southern states 1860
Lincoln condemns slavery in his ‘House Divided’ speech during the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Illinois 1858
1780 Massachusetts enfranchises all men regardless of race
1783 New Hampshire begins gradual Emancipation
1784 Connecticut and Rhode Island begin gradual Emancipation
Miniature Civil War erupts in Kansas over the issue of slavery 1855/56
Kansas/Nebraska Act passed, allowing slavery to be determined by popular sovereignty effectively nullifying the Missouri Compromise of 1820 1854
1785 New York Manumision Society organized
1787 The Northwest Ordinance bans slavery in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin
Uncle Tom’s Cabin published, a novel condemning slavery by Harriet Beecher Stowe 1852
Congress passes a harsher Fugitive Slave Act as part of the Compromise of 1850, mandating government participation in the capture of escaped slaves;
California admitted as Free state; Utah and New Mexico to be decided by popular sovereignty; and the slave trade in Washington D.C. is prohibited 1850
1789 Pennsylvania Abolition Society organized
early 1790’s American cotton exports are negligable
1791 Successful slave insurrection on Sante-Domingue (Haiti)
1792 Kentucky becomes a state, allows slavery
1793 Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin, increasing the need for slaves
The Wilmot Proviso, attempting to ban slavery in territory gained during the Mexican War, is blocked by Southerners 1846
Frederick Douglass, former slave, publishes his autobiography 1845
1796 Tennessee becomes a state, allows slavery
1800 Tobacco production has more than tripled since 1700; reaching almost 114 million lbs.
1801 American cotton exports reach 20 million lbs.
Black Baptist church congregations have grown to around 34 1844
Josiah Henson, a runaway slave, founds a fugitive slave school in Ontario, Canada 1841
1808 Congress bans further importation of slaves
Pennsylvania Hall burned during the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women in Philadephia 1838
1810 1.2 million total slaves in the U.S. or almost 17% of the total population
1817 The American Colonization Society founded to settle free Negroes in Africa
1821 Benjamin Lunday, a Quaker, publishes his anti-slavery paper, The Genius of Universal Emancipation
Garrison nearly lynched in Boston 1835
Censorship: Southern states forbid mailing of anti-slavery propaganda and expel abolitionists 1835
William Lloyd Garrison publishes the Liberator, an anti-slavery paper
in Boston, making him famous in the abolitionist movement 1831
Emancipation narrowly defeated at VA constitutional convention 1831/32
New England Anti-Slavery Society founded in Boston 1831
Nat Turner leads a slave rebellion in VA
killing 55 whites who then kill at least 200 African Americans 1831
Black Baptist Church congregations number around 10 1830
1700
1780
1790
Now around 2 million total slaves in the
U.S. or almost 16% of the total population 1830
1800
1810
1820
1610
1830
1840
1850
1870
1860
1822 Denmark Vesey, a freedman, leads a slave revolt in Charleston, SC;
Vesey and 34 co-conspirators are hanged
1820 The Missouri Compromise admits Missouri as a slave state,
Maine as a free state; but prohibits slavery in the Louisiana
Territory north of the 36˚ 30’ line of latitude
Slavery ended in the British Empire, including Canada 1833
The American Anti-Slavery Society founded in Philadelphia 1833
1812 African Americans called to help fight the Spanish during the War of 1812
Prudence Crandall’s school for Negro girls in Canterbury, CT was closed by vandalism and mob destruction 1834
1804 New Jersey is the last northern state to abolish slavery
AME (African Methodist Episcopal) church congregations number around 86 1836
1800 900,000 total slaves in the U.S. or 17% of the total population
Office of James G. Birney’s Philanthropist sacked in Cincinnati, OH 1836
1800 Slave revolt plot uncovered in Virginia; Gabriel Prosser and a number of others are hanged
1799 New York begins gradual Emancipation
Elijah Lovejoy, a minister, journalist, newspaper editor and abolitionist is killed in Alton, IL 1837
1796 American cotton exports reach 6 million lbs.
Slaves revolt aboard the Amistad ship off of Cuba 1839
1794 American Convention of Promoting the Abolition of Slavery founded, first national society of its kind
1793 First Federal Fugitive Slave Act passed providing for return of slaves who have escaped and crossed state boundaries
In Prigg v. Pennsylvania, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 1844
1791 Vermont becomes a Free State
1791 Upper Canada (Ontario) starts to pass laws banning slavery
1790 Britain imports 28 million lbs. of cotton
AME church congregations have grown to nearly 300 1846
Frederick Douglass publishes the anti-slavery North Star newspaper 1846
Harriet Tubman escapes from slavery and becomes an instrumental leader in the Underground Railroad 1849
1787 U.S. Constitution signed, including compromise to count slaves as three-fifths of one person for taxation and representation purposes
Republican party forms 1854
Dred Scot v. Sanford case determines Congress does not have the right to ban slavery in the states; black Americans (slaves or free) are not considered citizens 1857
John Brown raids Harper’s Ferry to form and support a slave revolt; veteran of “Bleeding Kansas” and a radical abolitionist 1859
South Carolina is the first state to secede from the Union 1860
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia secede, joining South Carolina and forming the Confederacy 1861
1783 Britain imports 9 million lbs. of cotton
1780 Pennsylvania begins gradual Emancipation
1776 The Society of Friends, the Quakers, forbids its members from holding slaves
Abraham Lincoln issues his Emancipation Proclomation, proclaiming that “all persons held as slaves” within the Confederate states “are, henceforward shall be free” 1863
1700 Tobacco production is up to 38 million lbs.
Lincoln is assassinated 1865
1619 First African American indentured servants arrive in Virginia
The 14th Amendment is ratified – defining African American citizenship; overturns the Dred Scot decision1868
Timeline of the history of slavery in America from the arrival of the first indentured servants in the 1600’s to the passing of the 15th Amendment giving African American men the right to vote.
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