The Sylvia Ardyn Boone Lecture by Steven Nelson (CASVA)

Steven Nelson, Dean of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, will give a talk titled, “Why the Underground Railroad Matters.”

Abstract:
Based on my nearly 3,000 mile roadtrip from Mobile, Alabama to St. Catharines, Ontario during summer 2009, this discussion explores Underground Railroad locales and lore, extant escape narratives, archives, art, literature, and interviews. The Underground Railroad is perhaps the most American of stories, one that for all of the research conducted on it, is steeped in fantasy, fiction, romance, and myth. Considering this complex intellectual and social terrain, this project reflects on the continued importance of the Underground Railroad in American life with an eye towards understanding why it still registers so deeply in so many lives.