Entering the Loophole: Surveying American Slavery in an English Village

In 1845, one of the most remarkable African American figures of the nineteenth century, Harriet Jacobs, arrived in the Oxfordshire village of Steventon. Jacobs had escaped from slavery just a few years earlier and found employment as a nanny to Imogen Willis, whose family was related to the vicar of Steventon. Jacobs went on to write about her experiences in the village in her book Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the most significant slave narrative written by a woman and a crucial historical and literary document.

Oxford Brookes Poetry Centre recently began a project called Loopholes and Boxes to commemorate Jacobs’s time in the village. The project, which involves local historians, poets, a surveyor, a sonic artist, a botanist, academics, a visual artist, and members of the Steventon community, explores different ways that we might ‘remember’ Jacobs. It reflects upon how a place can be altered by someone’s presence and how Jacobs herself was changed by her life in Steventon.

In this Think Human Festival event, we’ll hear from Dr Niall Munro and Dr Alys Beverton, who will situate Jacobs amid the literary, social and political upheaval in the decades leading up to the American Civil War - and the publication of Jacobs’s book. We’ll learn more about Jacobs’s life in Steventon and the historical significance of the family with whom she lived from members of the Steventon History Society. And poet Zakia Carpenter-Hall will share her work about Black lives and fugitivity, offering us a different and compelling perspective on Jacobs’s life and identity.

Content warning: This event deals with slavery and its inherent violence and will include mention of sexual violence.

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