by Jeroslyn JoVonn
April 2, 2025
‘Almost Unknown: The Afric-American Picture Gallery’ opens May 3.
A new multi-sensory picture gallery exhibit is coming to the Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library in Delaware that will immerse visitors in the energy and vibrancy of the Black experience across the diaspora.
Jonathan Michael Square’s Almost Unknown: The Afric-American Picture Gallery debuts Saturday, May 3. The 30-piece exhibit uses light and shadow, sound, intimate gallery spaces, and design elements to take visitors on a journey that honors and celebrates Black history and culture.
Square curated pieces for the gallery from Winterthur’s collection, supplemented by select loaned items. These include copies of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” Phyllis Wheatley’s “Poems on Various Subjects,” a silhouette attributed to Moses Williams, and a quilt by Priscilla Ballenger Leedom featuring an embroidered sketch of a bald eagle drawn by an unnamed enslaved boy.
“I want people to dig deeper into the stories of these and other transformative figures,” Square told Delaware Online. “I want visitors to feel the dynamism and vitality of African American history and culture, which is a story that’s layered and constantly evolving.”
Square based the gallery on his interpretation of a 19th-century essay by William J. Wilson, a Black journalist and educator born free in 1818. In Wilson’s 1859 essay, The Afric-American Picture Gallery, he leads readers through an imagined collection of artworks that both celebrate and critique the experiences of free and enslaved Black Americans in the 19th century.
In his work as a historian and educator, Square has used Wilson’s essay to teach courses at Harvard University and Parsons School of Design.
“The essay challenges us to consider our past, reflect on our present, and imagine a more inclusive future,” Square said. “It’s a difficult read. It starts off linear and straightforward, then veers into the fantastical. There’s tension in it.”
The curation and design of the exhibit draw inspiration from themes in Wilson’s essay, including Black childhood, the Underground Railroad, a Black Forest, and a decaying Mount Vernon. The design also incorporates elements reminiscent of 19th-century magic lantern shows, shadow plays, and silhouette puppetry.
In Almost Unknown, Square brings together drawings, paintings, sculptures, books, and other artifacts from Winterthur’s collection to reimagine Wilson’s gallery and reflect Black life in the United States and across the Diaspora. Square brings the almost unknown into the spotlight, shedding light on Wilson, his essay, and the often-overlooked yet significant stories behind these objects.
Almost Unknown: The Afric-American Picture Gallery runs May 3 through Jan. 4, 2026, with a guided house tour scheduled from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday, beginning May 3.
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