 "Photo: Courtesy of Holly Fulton")
 "Photo: Courtesy of Katrina Browne")
Ice and snow did not deter St. Edward’s University students and other attendees from making their way to Jones Auditorium on Feb. 23 for “Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North.”
The 2008 documentary follows filmmaker Katrina Brown as she discovers that her ancestors, the DeWolf family, were the largest slave-trading family in U.S. history. They trafficked more than 10,000 Africans from 1769 to 1820.
Ten DeWolf descendents, ranging from siblings to seventh cousins, decided to learn more by following the path of their family’s involvement in triangular trade from Rhode Island, to Africa, to Cuba, and back.
The History of the DeWolfs
The journey began in Bristol, R.I., where the DeWolf family was known for its prosperity and community involvement. The film addressed the “intentional amnesia” regarding Northern involvement in slavery, explaining that slave transportation drove the economy of many port cities.
The North was just as complicit in slavery as the South, since industries such as shipbuilding were supported by the international slave trade, and textile mills used cotton picked in the South. The American slave trade transported 11 million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean, with 500,000 dying before reaching the United States.
Following the ships from America to Ghana, rum was traded for slaves in more than 70 forts that operated along the West African coast. In Cape Coast, the family explored Elmina castle, where the DeWolfs had likely made many transactions. One family member saw the conditions of the “dungeon” there and said of the treatment of enslaved Africans, “It was an evil thing, and they knew it was an evil thing.”
The DeWolfs developed their own triangular trading system to maximize profits: The rum used to purchase Africans was made in the family-owned distilleries in Bristol, R.I. The sugar and molasses used in the DeWolf distilleries came from family-owned plantations in Cuba. The international slave trade was illegal most of the time that the DeWolfs were operating and, at the same time, Havana was the most active slave-trading port worldwide.
A National
Discussion
The ten DeWolf descendents returned to the United States and discussed racism’s consequences and the difficult task of reconciliation and healing. They weighed the increasing demands for slavery reparations, and “[struggled] with the question of how to think about and contribute to repair.”
Their emotional reactions and questions reflect the attitudes of many Americans today. The film asks questions like, “What is the legacy of slavery? Who owes what for the wrongs of our forefathers? What history do we inherit as individuals and as citizens? What would repair really look like and what would it take?”
“Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North” was intended to “help deepen the national conversation on race and get people engaged in an honest and courageous discussion.”
Dain Perry, DeWolf descendent and film participant, grew up in Charleston, S.C. in the 1950s and 1960s amidst rampant racism. Dain Perry and his wife, Constance Perry, led a discussion after the film, asserting that Americans need to “start taking a look at the past, so we can better understand how we got here today, so we can become healthier as a nation in the future.”
Constance Perry emphasized that nothing was off limits when discussing the personal topic. Those present were invited to share and discuss one word expressing their immediate reaction, with responses ranging from “grief,” to “sobered” to “hope.”
Dain Perry called for everyone present to speak up daily against racism.
“You can create a more open environment and literally change the atmosphere of the school,” he said.
Sophomore Kelsey Pokorny said she thought the film was powerful.
“[It] reawakened these different feelings of grief and guilt. Though we have a black president, daily instances of racism still occur,” she said.
The Perrys, who live in Boston, have been touring the United States and screening the film for a variety of churches, civic groups, libraries, grade schools and colleges. They said that “reconciliation is a process, not an event,” as there are still many families in the U.S. unable to experience the benefits of integration.
The presentation at St. Edward’s was the Perrys’ first in Texas, though they said they hope it won’t be their last. The film has been recognized internationally and has been nominated for several awards, including the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and an Emmy Award.
Professor Timothy Jecmen said the screening “[was] another opportunity to try to get students who are discussing these issues in the classroom to consider what it is actually like for someone to experience racism in the real world.”
More information on the film, its participants and screenings can be found at http://www.tracesofthetrade.org.
mbrowne@stedwards.edu
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