Crusaders for Freedom, mold

Item

Artist

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller

Title

Crusaders for Freedom, mold

Date

1962

Medium

Plaster, mold release agent

Accession Number

2006.310

On View

Danforth Art Museum at Framingham State University Fuller Gallery 204 Studio (on floor)

Classification

Sculpture, Mold Plaque

Label

Commissioned for the William J. Walls Heritage Hall at Livingstone College, Salisbury, NC, the Crusaders for Freedom depicts three notable members of Bishop Walls' historic abolitionist church, the Thomas Memorial AME Zion in Watertown, NY-- Sojourner Truth (c. 1797-1883), Frederick Douglas (c. 1817-1895), Harriett Tubman (c. 1822-1913). Fuller received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) for her tondo relief, later cast in bronze.

Description

Mold with portraits of three people, one man and two women. In the center is a decorative torch. There is a rough perimeter around the plaque.

Accrual Method

Collection was gifted to the Danforth in 2006. Unfortunately they sat uncatalogued for close to 10 years. It took until an IMLS grant awarded in 2015 through 2016 for this collection to be catalogued and put into the collections database. - Rachel 2021 Came to us from Pat West. Meta's friend Sue Thurman brought her a request from Livingstone College and connected Meta to Samuel Duncan who brought up the William J. Walls Heritage House - a new center for African Afro-American and International Studies. He asked for a relief and Meta drew Douglas, Tubman, Truth bust relief that she had done some time ago, but finished spring 1962 in 36” diameter. Called Crusaders of Freedom - got honorary degree of Doctor of Letters for her work. Was made into a bronze.

Provenance

Gift of the Meta V. W. Fuller Trust Part of the Estate of Meta V. W. Fuller from 1968-2001. In the collection of the Meta V. W. Fuller Trust, 2001-2006

Credit

Gift of the Meta V. W. Fuller Trust

Tombstone

Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller
Crusaders of Freedom, mold
1962
Plaster, mold release agent