Slavery by another name: Powerful Penn Center exhibit explores involuntary servitude

A mixed-media exhibition that explores the little-known past practice of leasing Black convicts to private individuals and corporations will open Saturday at St. Helena Island’s Penn Center.

Slavery by Another Name: Paintings and Assemblages by Robert Claiborne Morris will launch with a free public presentation by Morris and a reception from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at the York W. Bailey Museum at Penn, 16 Penn Center Circle-West.

Penn describes the art exhibit a “powerful.”

The mixed-media art exhibition was inspired by the Pulitzer-Prize winning book by Douglas A. Blackmon called “Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II.” The exhibit explores the practice of leasing African American convicts to private individuals and corporations, which continued in some Southern states until after World War II.

The revelation that involuntary servitude continued until after World War II changed the way Morris saw his native South, Penn Center says. He began searching for images, objects and artifacts that would convey the spiritual darkness of involuntary servitude. He canvassed junkyards, flea markets and historical societies from Georgia to North Carolina.

The exhibition includes portraits, maps of the slave mines, stories and images published by the Atlanta Constitution, blood money, letters to the Department of Justice pleading for mercy, and implements of bondage and torture ranging from ropes to locks and chains.

The collection of art has helped bring to light the little-explored chapter in American history, Penn Center says.

Despite a Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Blackmon and a PBS documentary, Morris has said, most people who attend his openings have never heard of the history.

Morris, of Tybee Island, is a painter known for his maritime landscapes, inspired by his previous career as an executive for the Georgia Ports Authority.