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An outdoor exhibit of printed canvas panels featuring the inspirational words of a famous 19th Century abolitionist will stay up through the winter at Whittier Birthplace in Haverhill.
Created by artist Mitchel Ahern, the 240-foot-long horizontal unbleached cotton fabric scroll features quotes from prominent educator and abolitionist Charlotte Forten Grimké. Entitled “Charlotte Forten, Journals 1855-1864,” it is installed in front of the tree line in a hayfield behind the homestead and birthplace of poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier, 305 Whittier Road. The public may see the artwork during daylight hours at no charge.
Born in 1837 to free Black parents, Forten Grimké was a poet and a member of Philadelphia’s well-established African-American community. She eventually moved to Salem, Mass., where she became the first Black to graduate from the Salem Normal School, now Salem State University. A member of the Salem Female Anti-Slavery Society, Forten Grimké published several poems in the popular anti-slavery publications of the time including The Liberator and The Evangelist. She was a contemporary of Whittier’s and exchange letters with him.
Ahern is a printmaker and performing artist based in Lynn. He printed the 16-inch-wide panels at the Museum of Printing in Haverhill on an 1830 Acorn iron hand press using antique wood type.
Ahern asked to leave the exhibit up to see how the printing and canvas will hold up in harsh winter conditions, according to Jimmy Carbone, a trustee of the historic site.