MCN 2024

In colonial Manhattan, fiery tensions bubbled beneath the veneer of society. Kofi’s Fire: A Spark of Resistance, an interactive graphic novel, documents the 1741 uprising of New York City, in which enslaved people and indentured servants set fire to businesses throughout Manhattan. We follow Kofi, an enslaved man put to trial, convicted, and executed for arson in our online graphic novel, created in partnership with Historic Hudson Valley Society, and supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities

Created by a Black-led team, Kofi’s Fire interprets biased archives, giving faces and personalities to underrepresented voices in a courtroom drama created for middle- and high-school audiences. In illuminating this hidden narrative, we found opportunities to contextualize the story of injustice and juxtapose 1741 Manhattan and present day, illustrating the ongoing consequences of history.

The session will focus primarily on the collaborative and creative aspects of developing a web-based interactive/digital-first exhibit aimed at middle- and high-school students and teachers. We will provide an overview of the intake of archival materials, the creative breakdown of documents into a narrative, building upon that story with illustration and dialogue, and how the final product incorporates opportunities for further learning.

Attendees will learn how charrettes and user testing with Africana scholars, K-12 educators, and students created a compassionate, engaging “modern-day textbook.” We’ll discuss how museum professionals, artists, and educators collaborated to find beauty and contemporary relevance within this difficult history, while crafting a digital-first experience that meshes a historical visit to Philipsburg Manor (operated by Historic Hudson Valley) with an in-class lesson.