Liquid Gold- Black Gold, the Golden Age of Whaling. Installation of the exhibition at The Greenleaf Gallery at Whittier College, 2012
Frederick Douglass was a Caulker
ink on board
30"x24"
Frederick Douglass, became a pinnacle figure in this series, as his life intersected with the world of whaling, abolitionism and (as he famously depicted in his autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass”) his escape from slavery.
This portrait depicts Douglass as a young man, along with an image of the type of free-black sailor certificate that he borrowed from his fellow caulker and friend (named in his autobiography as “Benny”) to serve as legal proof in his ability to leave the slave state of Maryland and to travel to New York in pursuit of his own freedom.