UA Little Rock Downtown Presents:

Slavery and Freedom: Journeys Across Time and Space

The exhibit is free and open to the public from May 3 through October 31, 2024.

Exhibit walk-in hours:
-Tuesdays, 1-4 PM
-Wednesdays, 1-4 PM
-Fridays, 1-4 PM
Or email UA Little Rock Downtown to schedule individual or group visits: downtown@ualr.edu

Furcy Madeleine and Abby Guy

Furcy Madeleine and Abby Guy never met or even knew about each other. Furcy was an enslaved man who in 1817 sued for his freedom in the French colony of Bourbon (today Réunion), an island in the Indian Ocean. Abby was an enslaved woman who began her and her four children’s legal fight for freedom in Arkansas in 1855. Although separated by decades and thousands of miles, they both used the existing legal systems to escape slavery. Slavery and Freedom: Journeys Across Time and Space invites visitors to explore what the stories of these two individuals tell us about slavery and freedom.

Exhibit’s Questions

What did it mean to be enslaved and free in societies that declared principles of personal rights and liberty while continuing to practice slavery? How did enslaved people use the courts to fight for their freedom? Who, according to the law, could become free? And what did race have to do with freedom and enslavement?

Origins of the Project

Slavery and Freedom: Journeys Across Time and Space originated from an exhibit The Strange Story of Furcy Madeleine (1786-1856), created by the Museum of Villèle in Réunion, France. Furcy Madeleine’s story and the work of the Museum of Villèle inspired a team from UA Little Rock to examine how Arkansas history connects with the history of slavery and freedom in the modern world. In the fall 2023 semester, Nathan Marvin, Assistant Professor of History at UA Little Rock, taught a course titled “Global Perspectives on Race.” Dr. Marvin and his students examined Furcy Madeleine’s story and exhibit. They also researched Abby Guy’s story, working with some original files from the Guy v. Daniel court case. The students who contributed to the exhibit are: Aiyana Burgess, William Holt, Noah Householder, Abby Hunt, Hyeseong Kim Ims, John Morris, Alison Stephens, Charles Thompson, Jeffrey N. Thrasher, Ellen Wellman, and River (the best service dog). Research, text, and design for the Abby Guy panels: Dr. Marta Cieslak, Emily Housdan, Dr. Nathan Marvin, and Dr. Jess Porter. Watercolors for the Abby Guy panels by Skylar Boone, UA Little Rock graphic design student. We thank Harry Lah and Melissa Serfass from the William H. Bowen School of Law Library for helping us access the original files of Guy et al. v. Daniel. This project is supported in part by a grant from the Arkansas Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities.