Echoes from the Attic

“There is a world of something in the nkisi bundle, and that world was brought to Newport, Rhode Island, where Black descendant communities—since the beginning of Newport’s relationship with the transatlantic slave trade—were dispersed by the wind at sea, allowing the cycles of African and African identities to begin again and flower into the vibrant community of today and its continued work toward freedom-making.” —Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes

The Edward W. Kane and Martha J. Wallace Center for Black History is housed in the city of Newport’s oldest surviving home at the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House (ca. 1697). The title of this new book, Echoes from the Attic, comes from the discovery of a nkisi, a spirit bundle found under the floorboards of the house during its restoration; the bundle is the springboard for the publication which features contributions from scholars and from members of the descendant community in Newport. Moving beyond the Gilded Age and stories of Black wealth and enterprise, there are also stories of slavery, of resistance and of regeneration and persistence.

Edited by Dr. Akeia de Barros Gomes
Contributions by Rebecca Bertrand, Kaela Bleho and Zoe Hume, Akeia de Barros Gomes, Kimberly Conway Dumpson and John M. Rice, and Anthony Bogues
With stories from members of the descendant community in Newport

Author biographies

Rebecca J. Bertrand is the Executive Director of the Newport Historical Society.

Kaela Bleho, MA, is the Newport Historical Society’s Director of Digital Collections.

Zoe Hume is a doctoral candidate in Museum Education and Visitor-Centered Curation at Florida State University.

Kimberly Conway Dumpson, ESQ, CFRE, is the fourth great granddaughter of Isaac and Sarah Ann Conner Rice.

John M. Rice, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and the second great grandson of Isaac and Sarah Ann Conner Rice.

Akeia de Barros Gomes, PhD, is the Director of the Edward W. Kane and Martha J. Wallace Center for Black History and a Visiting Scholar and Adjunct Lecturer at the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice at Brown University.

Anthony Bogues, PhD, is the Brown University Asa Messer Professor of Humanities and Critical Theory, Professor of Africana Studies, Director of the Ruth J. Simmons Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice, and Professor of History of Art and Architecture at Brown University.

Table of Contents

• Directors’ Forewords
• 1.Introduction: The Story of a House: A New Dawn for Newport’s Oldest Home by Rebecca Bertrand
• 2.The Story of Our Work: Telling Their Stories: Archives, Artwork, and Confronting the Unanswerable by Kaela Bleho and Zoe Hume
• 3.The Story of a Bundle: The Dandelion Clock: Stories of Slavery, Diaspora, and Humanity in a Bundle by Akeia de Barros Gomes
• 4.A Descendant Story: Recovering a Newport Family History: The Rice Property on Newport’s Historic Hill by Kimberly Conway Dumpson and John Rice
• 5.Stories of Two Community Elders: Ernest Gibbons—Fern Lima
• 6.Stories of Community, Slavery, and Freedom-Making: The Descendant Community: Todd Williams—Billie Yates-Lewis —Sarah Mays—Randy Butler, Sr.—Veronica Callandret-Bourget—Allyson “Flowing Waters” McCalla—Monica Monteiro—Ezra Monteiro
• Epilogue: Stories about Freedom: A Scholar’s Perspective—Refashioning Liberty into Black Freedom by Anthony Bogues
• Endnotes
• Image credits