Actress Tia James portrays the enslaved African American woman represented in a painting in the Newark Museum's collection. "Near Andersonville" was created by famed American artist Winslow Homer in 1866. The painting depicts the young woman on the 'threshold' of the future as she considers her freedom and views her liberators (Union soldiers) being led off to the notorious Andersonville Prison in Georgia. Homer presented an anonymous figure, but Ms. James researched published narratives of enslaved people to create her own character named Charity. Charity tells her story and comments on the dangers of the Underground Railroad, facing fear, and the hope to reunite with her husband, Walter. The gourds presented in the picture are symbols of the North Star (the guide for runaways) and the video includes a rendition of the folksong "Follow the Drinking Gourd". The video is a component of the Newark Museum's curriculum, "Civil War @ 150," a teaching resource recognizing the sesquicentennial of the Civil War.
