The Apotheosis (Land Ho, New Bedford) "40x30" Oil
This painting is a part of the narrative derived from my great, great, great grandfather's life. His mother took her young family from Washington, DC and they headed to the whaling capital of New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1850 just as the Fugitive Slave Act was passed. Though his mother, Elizabeth was a free woman, and consequently so was Isaiah and his siblings, the South was still a hostile environment for many blacks free and enslaved. Often, no regard was shown for a "Negro's" status and blacks were being kidnapped and brought to owners, granted reward money and backed by Federal Law.
New Bedford, however, was a haven of free blacks. The seaport offered jobs to blacks who'd learned maritime trades when enslaved. Well-established blacks, abolitionist whites--some of whom were Quakers, and a myriad of immigrants carried to the United States by globe trotting whale ships provided protection to New Bedford's emerging African American population. It was there that my ancestor, Isaiah King, was raised. From there he'd go on to fight in the Civil War and later embark on whaling voyages around the world.
In this scene, the fictional bark I named Apotheosis, smuggles the King family, among others, into New Bedford's port near the mouth of the Acushnet River.
