Liberian memorabilia on display
Local family creates two exhibits for Black History Month from personal collections, By Nancy Kriz WANTAGE A Wantage mother and daughter are sharing a part of their family’s history, which they believe fits perfectly with Black History Month, in two exhibits on display through the end of February at the Sussex-Wantage branch of the Sussex Public Library. The first exhibit focuses on artifacts and memorabilia collected by Bertha Fiore and her daughter Jean Fiore when the Fiore family lived in Liberia from 1958 to 1962. During that four-year span, Jean Fiore’s father served as district treasurer for the Episcopal Church in Liberia, giving the family a unique opportunity to experience a different culture. “The church brought my parents there,” said Jean Fiore. “At that time, Liberia was a sister country’ to New Jersey through the Episcopal Church. It was a very peaceful time. It was a pre-revolutionary time too.” And to the Fiores, there was nothing unusual about living in such a faraway place. “Being that the whole family was there, it was just like a normal thing,” said Jean Fiore. “We went to school. We played, though we had an advantage to being in the bush and the jungle. But we did live with things like poisonous snakes and army ants.” Art and history collections The Fiores definitely knew they were living in a place and observing a culture vastly different from the United States. Over those four years, they collected a wide range of Liberian items they now call them artifacts that made the trip back to America with them. Though it’s been almost 50 years since the family was in that African nation, their collection is still intact and includes: food preparation items, clothing, musical instruments, currency, carvings, masks, textiles and statues. They volunteered to display their memorabilia at the library, thinking Black History Month would be the perfect opportunity to showcase their Liberian treasures. “We wanted to share it with the community,” said Jean Fiore. “We’re just trying to expose people to what they’d see in everyday Liberian life. If you were to go there today, you’d see these items still in use in the interior.” Her mother Bertha Fiore agreed: “We’re happy to do this. People are interested in seeing this.” Among the women’s favorite items are “Mabel,” the fertility goddess statue (which they suspected helped in bringing five grandchildren into the family); and antelope head masks. “This was the life of our family,” said Jean Fiore. “It’s a part of (our) life (we) want to hold onto. That’s why we’ve had all this stuff all these years.” Civil rights connection Equally important to the Fiores is the dual history connection. “It (the Liberian memorabilia) is a part of our family’s history even though it’s a part of African history,” Jean Fiore added. The second exhibit, From Slavery to the White House, focuses on materials owned by the Fiores that deal with the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, slavery and the civil rights movement, among other topics. “Yes, this was definitely a mother/daughter project,” said Jean Fiore, who said she hopes people will stop by the library to take a look at the exhibits. “It was a fun project.”
If you go:
The Sussex-Wantage branch of the Sussex Public Library is located at 69 Route 639 in Wantage
Hours: Monday, Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone: 973-875-3940
The Republic of Liberia
Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d’Ivoire and the Atlantic Ocean. The history of Liberia is unique among African nations because of its relationship with the United States. It was founded and colonized by freed American slaves with the help of a private organization called the American Colonization Society in 1821-22 on the premise American slaves would have greater freedom and equality there. Slaves freed from slave ships also were sent there instead of being repatriated to their countries of origin. These colonists formed an elite group in Liberian society, and, in 1847, they founded the Republic of Liberia, establishing a government modeled on that of the United States. They named Monrovia their capital city, after president James Monroe, a prominent supporter of the colonization. A military-led coup in 1980 overthrew then-president William R. Tolbert, which marked the beginning of a period of instability that eventually led to a civil war that left hundreds of thousands of people dead and devastated the country’s economy. Today, Liberia is recovering from the lingering effects of the civil war and related economic dislocation. Source: www.wikipedia.org