Quakertown, Texas. 1920�s. African American farming community. They are considered a �threat.� They are forced to abandon their homes.

Whispers from the Walls brings together the objects, sounds and smells that allow visitors to experience the concepts of presence, absence, memory, identity, history and loss.

The exhibit by Whitfield Lovell uses wood wallboards instead of canvas or paper, to display portraits and life size charcoal drawings of human figures, who are described as �tenants� of the home. The history of the exhibit focused on the African American farming community in Quakertown, Texas who were considered a threat to the young white women at a nearby college.

Due to the influence and activity of the Ku Klux Klan, residents were forced to flee the town, and sell their property at a tremendously low rate. The city leaders then developed a city park on the land the African Americans used to call home.

The incident in Quakertown inspired the renowned artist, Lovell, to create a work about memory, loss, and family that applies to all displaced people but especially about these African Americans forcibly removed.

Experience the Whispers from the Walls, March 26th through June 6, 2004. Included in Museum admission.

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Media Contact: Gwen Harmon +1 901-521-9699 ext 240 gharmon@civilrightsmuseum.org