Albert and Downes Curtis were the manifestations of generations of African American men’s sacrifice and increased prospects in the maritime world. Just as Black jacks had “pay[ed] off the jib topsail downhaul” to freedom, the Curtis brothers, one stitch at a time, solidified a Black enterprise in a society that had yet to grant them genuine citizenship. Unlike other inhabitants of the New World, native or immigrant, the maritime element of the horrific Middle Passage was not unusual to those of African descent. How it was done, and the destinations which they were being shipped to, were the only factors that differed from centuries of cultural seafaring. In building sails along the same waters as the “shrouded ghosts” that haunted Frederick Douglass, the Curtis brothers also built a path toward dignity for Black tidewater artisans that still exists today.
An introduction of Something on the Inside, Is Working on the Outside can be found here.
Jaelon Terrele Moaney is a native of Talbot County and graduated from Williams College with a degree in political science in the spring of 2019. He currently works for the Democratic National Committee and became a Spy writer in August of this year.
C. Paul Cox says
I remember as a child being taken to Downes Curtis’ sail loft on Tilghman St by my father. I still remember the vast floor space the loft required. The sail cloth would be carefully laid out across the floor as it was cut and then overlapped so that just the right curvature could be created as it was built panel by panel. It was a great airy room, the windows allowing the sun to stream in, bolts of canvas and cotton sail cloth tucked into the corners. It smelled of hemp and beeswax. For Mr. Curtis, it was his livelihood; for me it was magical.
Richard Skinner says
Methinks Mr. Moaney has managed to absorb both the DNA of Talbot County and the Eastern Shore AND perspective to enable him to create sufficient “space” between what he lived and what he knows. That he does so with great eloquence is testimony to what this place and his parents and siblings bequeathed him – an understanding – and his special talent of being capable to write about this place and these times. I look forward to reading more of his work.