Pinellas Remembers

04/10/2026

There would be no need for such a museum if its contents were works of fiction. ~Danny E. White, President

Ferris State’s new Jim Crow Museum will house more than 30,000 artifacts, but the building itself helps tell the stories of objects of oppression and how people are working to heal and overcome.

26/09/2026

Unfiltered. (D.E.WHITE)

THEY BRANDED HIS FOREHEAD. THEY PUT A PUNISHMENT COLLAR AROUND HIS NECK.
His name was Wilson Chinn. Chinn was enslaved in Louisiana by Volsey B. Marmillion, a sugar planter. A contemporary account from the Civil War period reported that Marmillion branded enslaved people on his plantation and that the initials “V.B.M.” were burned into Chinn’s forehead. The same account reported that 30 people on the plantation had been branded.

In 1863, Chinn was photographed in New York by M. H. Kimball.

The photographer did something deliberate: he didn’t photograph only Chinn.

He photographed the evidence of punishment around him. An iron-pronged collar.
Leg irons and chains. A wooden punishment paddle.

The Library of Congress identifies the photograph as showing Chinn with his forehead branded with the initials of his enslaver and wearing a punishment collar while posing with other equipment used to punish enslaved people.

This is why this photograph is so difficult to forget.
You can see the system of slavery on his body and beside his feet.

But remember the person inside the photograph.
Wilson Chinn was not born to become a symbol.

He was a human being who was enslaved, branded and subjected to physical restraints.

The photograph was part of a larger abolitionist effort during the Civil War, with proceeds intended to support education for Black people in Union-controlled Louisiana.

What do you see first when you look at this photograph the brand, the collar, the chains, or Wilson Chinn himself? And what question would you ask if Wilson Chinn could answer you today?

We do not glorify violence. We reveal truth so history can’t repeat itself.

22/09/2026

08/09/2026

Wishing Secretary Bunch all the best in his next chapter.

With a storied career dating back to the 1970s, Bunch leaves a remarkable legacy, most notably the founding of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

31/08/2026

Visit Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, AL.

Breathtaking art and original artifacts bring to life the history o...

28/08/2026

In Remembrance of Emmett Till. August 28, 1955. Say His name.

16/08/2026

https://lynchinginamerica.eji.org/explore/Alabama/rufus-lesseur

06/08/2026

The definition of patriotism does not always look the same.

James Armistead Lafayette was an enslaved man who became one of the American Revolution's most valuable spies. With permission from his enslaver, he joined the Marquis de Lafayette's forces and posed as a runaway slave to infiltrate British camps, where he gathered intelligence and operated as a double agent. His reports on British troop movements and reinforcements helped George Washington and Marquis de Lafayette trap General Cornwallis at Yorktown, leading to the decisive American victory in 1781.

Despite his crucial role in securing American independence, James was forced back into slavery after the war because he was classified as a spy rather than a soldier. Only after did Armistead reach out to Marquis de Lafayette who personally appealed to the Virginia legislature did Lafayette gain his freedom in 1787. Living off his annual pension fee, Armistead moved to his own 40-acre farm in Virginia, where he married, raised a family, and lived out the rest of his life as a freeman.

17/06/2026

Meet Opal Lee, the Grandmother of Juneteenth.

Why does Juneteenth matter to us all?