Organizations 'unmask' Negro Election Day
May 25—SALEM — The annual Black Picnic is on hold, but Salem United has something bigger planned to mark the historic tradition.
The local nonprofit that has transformed the Salem Black Picnic over the past decade has teamed up with Hamilton Hall to open a months-long exhibit titled "Unmasking & Evolution of Negro Election Day and The Black Vote." The exhibit is free and runs each weekend from Friday through Sunday, Aug. 29.
The exhibit goes into the history behind the Black Picnic, which has run on the North Shore for 281 years. The tradition got its start in 1741 and became an annual effort to elect a Black king or governor to represent enslaved and free people of color — the first votes took place more than two centuries before the Civil Rights era. Salem United formed around an effort to better organize the picnic in 2014, and it has grown the event each year since until COVID-19 triggered its hiatus last year.
The exhibit at Hamilton Hall "starts with Negro Election Day and the history of the first Black voting system," said Doreen Wade, president of Salem United. "But it also talks about the suppression of the Black vote — so it'll chronicle the different eras of the Black voting system. That's why we're calling it the 'unmasking.'"
The event speaks not just to history, but happenings in the United States following the controversial 2020 presidential election.
For instance, Wade pointed to Georgia's new voting law, passed after the state went uncharacteristically Democratic in the last election, leading to President Joe Biden's victory. Among other things, the law requires ID for absentee ballots and bans people from offering water and other refreshments to those waiting in line to vote. Throughout the bill's debate and eventual passage, left-leaning organizations and voting advocacy groups sounded alarms about the harm the bill could do to minority voters and their right to cast ballots in future elections. National debate on the issue has frequently invoked the name of Jim Crow and its ties to racial segregation.
"This exhibit tries to bring out different forms of what happens in Black America when you can't vote," Wade said. "It lists the bill (from Georgia) and actually explains how many states are actually passing bills that are similar to this."
Wade said the exhibit covers "where we've been, where we're going, and actually where we're at." When asked where the country is at, she said, "a backward flow."
"You'll see in the exhibit where I have one that basically says, 'Jim Crow, Part 2,' and pictorially, it explains it," Wade said.
Hamilton Hall is donating its space for the exhibit, which allows for free admission, according to Michael Selbst, board president at the historic building.
"One of the benefits of the past year is it's forced all sorts of organizations to reflect on who they are and what they're about," Selbst said. "We've taken our old mission statement and spent time thinking about who we are and what we want to be in the community."
The new mission, Selbst said, prioritizes sharing the hall's history and expanding "opportunities for community gatherings, education, and celebration."
"When Doreen approached us, it seemed so very easy to say 'yes,'" Selbst said. "It's about Black history, Black voting history, and Salem history. ... There's a lot of lessons to be learned in this exhibit. It's compellingly interesting."
To respond to this story or suggest another, contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.
UNMASKING IN PERSON: HOW TO ATTEND
Opening weekend hours
Friday, May 28: 4 to 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 29 and Sunday, May 30: 10 a.m. to noon, and 3 to 7 p.m.
Hours beginning June 4
Friday: 4 to 7 p.m.
Saturday: 3 to 7 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. to noon and 3 to 7 p.m.
For more information, visit salemunitedinc.org or hamiltonhall.org/salemunited.
