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Unwritten Love Letter #088: Africa, Ohio - Underground Railroad 1800-1865, 1988
Pen and ink, thread and found objects on hand-dyed envelope
14 in x 21 in
Collection of Otterbein College: Westerville, Ohio
Curator’s comments
Africa, Ohio, was the first stop north of Columbus on the Underground Railroad. In 1859 a large group of slaves from North Carolina was brought to the village of East Orange, near Westerville in central Ohio. The slaves were freed and began working as farmers. Because there were so many African Americans in this small village it was called "Africa." At some point the village disappeared, but a nearby highway was named Africa Road, and it still remains to honor those who lived there and their connection to the Underground Railroad.
Artist’s comments
I started working on Unwritten Love Letters years ago. I guess when I was a junior in high school, and it has been an ongoing love affair. I take the envelopes that have come to me or that I find in yard sales. I unfold them, dye them, and then I work on them. Friends give me stamps from letters they've received, and I put them on the letters to make sure they "get to their destinations."