Fighting for Freedom

176 pp., 8.5 x 11, 74 color plates, notes, bibl., index

Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4696-8625-7
Published: April 2025

Hardcover Available April 2025, but pre-order your copy today!

Buy this Book

Hardcover $35.00

To purchase online via an independent bookstore, visit Bookshop.org

As the companion to the exhibition, Fighting for Freedom places Black craftspeople at the forefront of American history, from before the Revolutionary War through the Civil War and beyond Reconstruction. Delving into diverse narratives of creativity, resilience, and triumph in the quest for freedom, this book underscores the evolution of freedom through the lens of material culture—by exploring how the very concept of freedom was shaped and redefined by enslaved and free craftspeople who relentlessly fought for their rights and the recognition of their humanity.

Featuring ten essays by leading historians, museum curators, and material culture scholars and more than seventy color photographs of Black artistry, including paintings, metalwork, woodwork, pottery, and furniture, this book vividly illustrates how Black men and women persistently sought tangible expressions of liberty which have endured as symbols of their creators’ legacies in the ongoing struggle for freedom.

Contributors include Lauren Applebaum, Robell Awake, Lydia Blackmore, Aleia M. Brown, R. Ruthie Dibble, Philippe L. B. Halbert, Jennifer Van Horn, Alexandra Alevizatos Kirtley, and Susan J. Rawles.

About the Authors

Torren L. Gatson is assistant professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
For more information about Torren L. Gatson, visit the Author Page.

Tiffany N. Momon is associate professor of history at Sewanee (The University of the South).
For more information about Tiffany N. Momon, visit the Author Page.

William A. Strollo is curator of exhibitions at the Daughters of the American Revolution Museum.

For more information about William A. Strollo, visit the Author Page.

Reviews

"This book showcases the vital contributions of African Americans to the American decorative arts, demonstrating that Black identity is inseparable from the nation’s core ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."—Hilary Green, Davidson College

"Fighting for Freedom powerfully asserts that Black skill and craft, embodied in objects, architecture, and landscapes, should be acknowledged and celebrated as an essential parts of American history."—Catharine Dann Roeber, Winterthur Museum, University of Delaware