Housed in the Dr. William R. Harvey Museum of Art
“In 1938, Hale Aspacio Woodruff (August 26, 1900 – September 6, 1980) was commissioned by Talladega Collega’s President, Dr. Buell G. Galiagher, to paint six murals illustrating the rise of blacks from slavery to freedom. Woodruff’s first three panels, the Amistad Murals, commemorate the 1839 slave uprising on the Amistad ship. These vibrant works depict the revolt, the ensuing court scene and the return to Africa. The remaining panels illustrate the founding of Talladega College, the building of Slavery Library and the Underground Railroad. The completion of the murals, which were installed in the newly-constructed library, coincided with the 100th anniversary of the Amistad uprising and the 75th anniversary of the College.”
“In 2008, Talladega College’s 20th President, Dr. Billy C. Hawkins, had the murals removed from the walls of Savery Library, where they hung for 69 years, and had them appraised. They were valued at $40 million, but they were in danger of disintegrating. With the assistance of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the murals were restored and sent on a three-year, eight-city tour. The value of the historic collection soared to $50 million.”
“Woodruffs panels were the first pieces of twentieth century art to portray the Amistad uprising, which began on July 2, 1839, when Portuguese slave hunters kidnapped a large group of Africans from Sierra Leone and transported them to Havana Cuba.”
“In Havana, two Spanish planters purchased 53 of the Mende captives and imprisoned them on the schooner La Amistad (“Spanish for Friendship”), which set sail for a Caribbean plantation on June 28, 1839. On the fourth night of travel, the captives broke free. They killed the ship’s cook and captain, and commanded the planters to sail the ship to Africa. The planters sailed toward Africa each day, but secretly steered toward the United States each night. On August 26, 1839, the ship was seized near the coast of Long Island, New York, by the United States. While many Africans were wrongly imprisoned in New Haven, Connecticut, the planters were freed.”
“President Martin Van Burn advocated sending the captives back to Cuba, but Northern abolitionists mounted a court battle. An issue of property rights, which emerged as the planters, the Spanish government, and the Washington captain all claimed the Africans as their own, brought the case to trial in Connecticut’s Federal District Court and later to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court upheld a previous ruling, which stated that the Africans had been abducted in violation of international trade laws and treaties; therefore, they could not be legally enslaved.”
“After the trial, U.S. abolitionists provided the Africans with legal assistance and tutoring. Some traveled to Africa with the newly freed captives and launched a Christian mission. Others united to form the American Missionary Association (AMA), which assisted in the establishment of educational institutions, including Talladega College, to assist former slaves”. (www.harveymuseum.org)