The FOR-SITE organization presents its highly anticipated new project Black Gold: Stories Untold. This innovative exhibition invites more than fifteen contemporary artists to reflect on the resilience, struggles and triumphs of African Americans who lived in California from the Gold Rush to the Reconstruction period following the Civil War (c. 1849-1877). Black Gold is located at the Fort Point National Historic Site, the only extant Civil War-era fort on the West Coast of the United States, and will be on view from June 6 to Nov. 2, 2025.
Early California Statehood and the Contribution of Black Individuals
This presentation was inspired in part by Gold Chains: The Hidden History of Slavery in California, a public education campaign produced by the ACLU of Northern California, one of FOR-SITE’s community partners. During this time in history, California decried slavery and gained statehood with the Union as a “free” state. Simultaneously, the state’s official government policies allowed the very practices they claimed to be against. As a result, African Americans toiled as slaves in gold mines during the Gold Rush and beyond. During this time of struggle, the successes of Black entrepreneurs, and the experiences of African American Army regiments known as the Buffalo Soldiers created and contributed to cultural, social and political environments. Illustrating these contributions are artists including Akea Brionne, Demetri Broxon, Adrian L. Burrell, Adam Davis, Cheryl Derricotte, Carla Edwards, Mildred Howard, Sir Isaac Julien CBE, Tiff Massey, Umar Rashid, Trina M. Robinson, Alison Saar, Yinka Shonibare CBE, Bryan Keith Thomas, Cosmo Whyte, Hank Willis Thomas, and the artists of Creativity Explored.
Black Gold Highlights
Artist Trina M. Robinson explores the relationship between memory and migration through film, installation, print media and archival materials. A newly-commissioned 16 millimeter film tells the story of Brigadier General Charles Young (1864-1922) who was born a slave and went on to lead a company of Buffalo Soldiers in San Francisco’s Presidio, and became the first Black U.S. National Park Superintendent.
British artist Yinka Shonibare contributed a large-scale sculpture Man Moving Up (2022). An adult male burdened by suitcases climbs a golden-railed staircase in a symbol of struggle toward upward mobility. The figure is also a symbol of renewed place, and seeking an improved home. As a symbol of the Great Migration, Black Americans left the rural South to the North seeking economic and social justice. The Victorian-style costume is a symbol of the Jim Crow era when segregation and economic disenfranchisement placed new challenges on the African American population.
Oakland artist Demetri Broxton’s ornate hand-stitched beaded portrait celebrating Black whaling ship captain and Bay Area civic leader William T. Shorey (1859-1919) and his family, his largest textile piece to date, will be on display measuring three feet across by five feet tall. The family portrait floats in front of waves of blue and green beads. Each figure is embellished with cowry shells of a type once used for protection by the Yoruba people of Nigeria and for the purchase of humans during the Transatlantic Slave Trade.
Tulsa-based artist Adam Davis will create new tintype portraits during the run of the exhibition, linking past and present through an early photographic approach popular among Civil War soldiers.
Art in Conversation with an Historic Site
Fort Point National Historic Site was a former military fortification located beneath the south anchorage of the Golden Gate Bridge. The area was constructed to protect San Francisco’s harbor from potential naval threats as the region became rich with the discovery of gold. Completed in 1859, the fort never saw active military engagement. Today it is preserved as a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is managed by the National Park Service.
“Black Gold: Stories Untold” is exhibiting June 6 – Nov. 22, at the Fort Point National Historic Site, 201 Marine Dr.
Sharon Anderson is an artist and writer in Southern California. She can be reached at mindtheimage.com
