Wednesday, 12 January, 2011 13:05
by Chris Jay
The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Shreveport, one of 10 Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums in the United States.
The What, When and Where:
The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum of Shreveport
3201 Centenary Boulevard in Shreveport, LA
Open Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Free Admission
The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum in Shreveport currently features a small but powerful exhibit entitled "Abolition of Slavery." The documents and artifacts on display are all related to the fight against slavery and the struggle for human and civil rights in the United States and abroad. The exhibit - like the museum itself - is modest but extraordinary, consisting of hand-forged iron wrist and leg shackles intended for African slaves as well as a plethora of documents dealing with the international effort to outlaw the slave trade.
Spend some time with the documents and you'll get a glimpse into the minds of bureaucrats who were growing increasingly frustrated with the slave trade. One document in this collection is an agreement between Great Britain and Spain calling for "the more effectual prevention of the slave trade." This document states that ships need not have slaves aboard in order to be in violation of the law. "Having on board a suspicious amount of water vessels, shackles, bolts, or handcuffs" is also reason enough for the ship to be seized.
In this visitor's opinion, the highlights of the collection were pages from original manuscripts that changed the course of history by playing a part in the American Civil Rights movement. The exhibit includes one of only 14 surviving pages of the original manuscript of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, as well as pages from Alex Haley's original manuscript of Roots. Finally, the exhibit features Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s handwritten notes on the "we shall overcome" speech - standing in the presence of that document is a powerful experience.
Lagniappe
Listen to Dr. King's "We Shall Overcome" speech.