The Behringer-Crawford Museum in Covington will host a virtual presentation on skills, trades and other knowledge enslaved Africans brought across the Atlantic Ocean and how they influenced the broader cultural landscape in the Americas. The presentation is slated for March 10.
“Rather than learning trades only after arrival, many individuals were already accomplished in areas such as furniture making, textile production, pearl diving and other skilled work that was actively sought through the Transatlantic Slave Trade,” a spokesperson for the museum said in a news release.
Titled “Skills They Already Possessed: What Enslaved Africans Brought With Them,” the free virtual program will be led by Dr. Joan Ferrante, author, speaker, filmmaker and professor of sociology at Northern Kentucky University.
“Dr. Ferrante will discuss how this expertise contributed to the creation of beautiful furniture, clothing and household goods that defined early American homes,” writes the museum. “While the finished pieces were visible, the knowledge and labor that went into them often went unrecognized.”
The program will began at 6:30 p.m. on March 10. You can register to attend by filling out the online registration form here. The program will also be live-streamed on the museum’s Facebook page.
The presentation is part of the museum’s NKY History Hour series. You can view previous events in the series by visiting the museum’s archive page.