LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The University of Arkansas at Little Rock students had an opportunity to close the books and make learning more natural by opening a new exhibition, Slavery and Freedom.
The exhibition opens Friday and tells the story of two enslaved people's fight using the legal system.
"A lot of times as a history student, you get used to your work becoming a scholarly source," John Morris said. "A general audience will view this, and it's amazing that we can... contribute to such an amazing story."
These stories take place in slightly different centuries and different parts of the world, but somehow, their stories collide.
Furcy, an enslaved person from Reunion Island, and Abby Guy, an enslaved person from Arkansas, both fought a legal battle for freedom from slavery. Since Guy's story starts in the Natural State, what better way to showcase her journey?
"In 2023, a French museum from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean reached out to us to ask whether we would be willing to show right here at the Little Rock downtown," Marta Cieslak said. "Their exhibit is about a man who fought for his freedom from slavery in the 19th century."
Cieslak, one of the creators, said that knowing the history of Furcy, they wanted to develop a way to localize it for Arkansans, which sparked their interest in Guy's story.
"We felt that it was missing something to really connect with the Arkansas audience," Cieslak said. "What we did was find a similar story of a woman in Arkansas who also fought for her freedom. Using the legal system, her name was Abby Guy, and she took her case all the way to the Supreme Court of Arkansas twice."
Despite the pushback with Arkansas laws against African American history, Emily Housdon, another creator, said Guy's story needs to be shared for all ages to view.
"All aspects of history... how horrible or how hard it is to talk about needs to be discussed and brought to the attention," Housdon said. "That was really important for us."
The exhibit shows how enslaved people fought for freedom and showcases the rarity of these extraordinary stores using the legal system.
UALR graduate student John Morris said that strategy was eye-opening.
"I think there's a common misconception that slavery was an institution that was winding down near the beginning of the Civil War," Morris said. "That is just not the case in Arkansas; the laws were tightening up, and how difficult it was for Abby to plead her case and get freedom. That's what makes his case so exceptional... it was so rare at the time in the 1850s."
The fight ahead for Guy was no easy task, and all odds were stacked against her with being a woman, an enslaved person and an African American, but those odds were better than being in bondage.
"The incredible thing about the story is also the incredible courage of Abby Guy, who went to court and stood in front of the jury of 12 white men, some of whom were slave owners," Cieslak said. "She put her faith and the fate of her children in their hands, and we would like to invite the audience to see what happened after that."
The exhibit opens on May 3, 2024, at UA Little Rock downtown from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and will run through October.