“Hiding in Plain Sight: The People and Ideas Behind the 1877 Warren Black Gospel Window”, is a multifaceted examination and research project of a stained glass window uncovered in 2022 in Warren, RI. Co-directed by Catherine Zipf, Executive Director of the Bristol Historical & Preservation Society in RI, Hadley Arnold, donor of the window, and Professor Osayimwese, Chair and Associate Professor of HIAA, as well as HIAA Doctoral student researcher Miranda Cuozzo and recent PhD in Africana Studies Melaine Ferdinand-King.
Possibly the first representation of a Black Christ and Black Gospel Women in US public space, the project seeks to understand the women who commissioned the window, the artist who created it, and their intentions as an invitation to reconsider what we know about Rhode Island’s and the North’s role in slavery and anti-slavery.
Congratulations to Professor Itohan Osayimwese, Catherine Zipf of the Bristol Historical & Preservation Society, and Hadley Arnold on this important recognition!