Civic Empathy exhibits reveal Westmoreland history of slavery, racial justice

Dec. 4—Pennsylvania was a haven in the decades preceding the Civil War for people seeking to escape enslavement in the South.

But that wasn't the case in Pennsylvania's earlier years, when enslaved people and those who claimed ownership of them were part of the local population, including in Westmoreland County.

The seldom-discussed story of how slavery once existed in the county and then gradually was rejected has been brought to the forefront in a new exhibit of the Westmoreland Historical Society.

"This is maybe something that most people don't know," said Lisa Hays, executive director of the society.

The exhibit is part of a Civic Empathy Project that has partnered Pittsburgh's Heinz History Center with 15 museums, libraries and cultural organizations across the region — to highlight the connection between civics education and how history is reflected in current issues.

Working with the History Center, Hays and her staff developed an interpretive display of late 18th century artifacts that were uncovered on the former property of a slaveholder at Historic Hanna's Town in Hempfield, where the historical society is headquartered.

The exhibit is small in size, occupying a portion of a display case in the society's Westmoreland History Education Center. But, Hays said, "It's a big story."

The artifacts include broken pottery and a silver spoon, engraved with the initials of successful Hanna's Town tavern keepers Charles and Sarah Foreman. Hays notes the wealth claimed by the couple also included 17-year-old Amynta, who was among 352 enslaved people registered in Westmoreland County in 1782.

The Foremans and others like them were required to annually list those they held in bondage, to comply with Pennsylvania's Act for the Gradual Abolition of Slavery. Enacted on March 1, 1780, it was the first legislative act in the United States designed to end slavery.

Under that act, Hays said, "If you were enslaved, you remained enslaved for life, but the children born to you would be free when they turned 28."

If officials discovered an enslaved person who had not been duly registered, that person was to be freed, Hays explained.

"As a result, some slave owners moved out of Pennsylvania, to Kentucky or Virginia," she said. "Foreman and his wife stayed."

Hays, so far, has been unable to determine Amynta's ultimate fate. "It would be wonderful if this exhibit would maybe help us to learn more about her," she said.

The exhibit points out that slavery, in the modern form of human trafficking, still exists in the United States — which is one of the top three destinations for victims of the criminal enterprise.

The exhibit includes a QR code visitors can scan to be linked to a web page the local nonprofit Blackburn Center maintains to spread awareness of human trafficking.

Sisters enact racial justice

Another of the Civic Empathy exhibits, in Greensburg, reveals how the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill engaged in racial justice beginning in the early 20th century — befriending and assisting a similar community of Christian women religious in New Orleans who were Black and whose educational mission was hampered by discriminatory laws.

Panels of text and photos tell the story of how the local Sisters of Charity in the 1920s helped the Black nuns of the Sisters of the Holy Family circumvent racist laws that were in effect in New Orleans at the time.

The New Orleans sisters had established schools for teaching children of color but found themselves in a dilemma, according to Casey Bowser, archivist for the Sisters of Charity and for Seton Hill University, which the Greensburg sisters founded. She explained new Louisiana regulations required all teachers in the state to be certified, but "Jim Crow" laws prevented the sisters from attending local colleges.

The Sisters of Charity responded in June 1921, initiating a summer school and, in secret, providing the secondary and college-level courses their New Orleans counterparts required. Because they were breaking Louisiana law, Bowser noted, "The Sisters of Charity had to officially live down the street from the Sisters of the Holy Family so as not to bring attention to the program."

The outreach continued for 36 summers and expanded to include scholarships allowing New Orleans sisters to study at Seton Hill in Greensburg. The two communities of sisters also established a faculty exchange program that helped to integrate the teaching staff at Catholic elementary schools in the Diocese of Pittsburgh and the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The ongoing educational relationship was "a foundation for real friendship among the sisters," said Bowser. "It really was this idea of lasting friendship and respect."

The Sisters of Charity outreach has included services to residents of Pittsburgh's Hill District — as far back as 1891, when they established Roselia Foundling and Maternity Hospital. Later, they distributed food and clothing and met other needs through the House of Mary.

In 1964, Sister Francis Assisi Gorham founded a Suzuki-method school of music for inner-city children. It grew to include a 100-piece orchestra that toured internationally and recorded two albums.

Seton Hill sisters continue in the same spirit today, Bowser said. Sister Lois Sculco, in 1995, received a Racial Justice Award from the YWCA, recognizing her "work for the elimination of racism," while Seton Hill sisters more recently attended a prayer vigil in the wake of the 2020 death of George Floyd.

Yet, Bowser said, the exhibit points out questions that remain to be answered — including why so few Black sisters have joined the predominantly white Seton Hill community of women religious, despite a 1960s international expansion that brought in some Latina and Asian sisters.

"Of the few there have been, none of them have stayed," Bowser said of Black sisters. "Why didn't they stay? That's what happens almost everywhere."

The Civic Empathy Project is supported by a grant from the Grable Foundation — which helped cover some of the costs of the Sisters of Charity exhibit as well as staff time spent developing it, Bowser said.

The exhibit is housed at the Sisters of Charity motherhouse and can be seen by appointment. Those wishing to view it may contact Bowser at cbowser@scsh.org or 724-853-7948, ext. 1130.

Information about the historical society and its education center can be obtained at westmorelandhistory.org or by calling 724-836-1800.

As the Civic Empathy Project evolves, digital versions of exhibits are planned.

Exhibits dot region

Other partner organizations and sites that have developed exhibits include: Battle of Homestead Foundation; Beaver County Historical Research & Landmarks Foundation; Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum; Duncan & Miller Glass Museum; Fayette County Cultural Trust — Connellsville Canteen; Green Tree Public Library; Ohio County Public Library; Preservation Pittsburgh; Quecreek Mine Rescue Foundation; Western Allegheny Community Library; Wheeling Academy — Law & Science Foundation; and Zelienople Historical Society.

For more about the project, visit heinzhistorycenter.org/about, select "Explore This Section" and search under "History Center Affiliates Program."

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff by email at jhimler@triblive.com or via Twitter .