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Episode 3: Keeping Venture Smith’s story alive

A depiction of “Venture’s Rock” on a quilt made by Susi Ryan, a member of Sisters in Stitches Joined By the Cloth quilting group. Ryan made this quilt to honor her ancestor Venture Smith, who wrote one of the earliest known eyewitness accounts of slavery in the United States. The rock was used to symbolically represent the boundary markers of Smith’s property in Stonington, Conn., where he purchased 26 acres directly adjacent to where his family was still enslaved.
Ryan Caron King
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A depiction of “Venture’s Rock” on a quilt made by Susi Ryan, a member of Sisters in Stitches Joined By the Cloth quilting group. Ryan made this quilt to honor her ancestor Venture Smith, who wrote one of the earliest known eyewitness accounts of slavery in the United States. The rock was used to symbolically represent the boundary markers of Smith’s property in Stonington, Conn., where he purchased 26 acres directly adjacent to where his family was still enslaved.

Venture Smith's story is the first published narrative by an enslaved person in the U.S. It was issued in 1798. It’s also one of the few published narratives of slavery in New England. He describes his capture in Africa and life in ϳԹ. He bought his own freedom and then built a home near where his wife and children remained enslaved. He spent years working to save money to buy their freedom. Meet his descendants who are working to keep Venture Smith’s story alive.

In our third episode, reporter/producer Diane Orson and editorial consultant and Curator discuss narratives of the enslaved. They explore oral history and how stories are passed down through music and crafts. They also talk about the ways Black exceptionalism is used to deny issues of racism and inequity.

Click here to learn more, including videos, photos and digital stories.

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This podcast was produced by Cassandra Basler.

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Diane Orson is a special correspondent with ϳԹ. She is a longtime reporter and contributor to National Public Radio. Her stories have been heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition, Here and Now; and The World from PRX. She spent seven years as CT Public Radio's local host for Morning Edition.