“Drapetomania: A Disease Called Freedom”

Related Content

• The 5 Worst Places to Take a First Date
  October 19, 2011
• Silas Albert, 22, Bayou Body Count No. 106
  July 18, 2011
• TSU Sex Tape Scandal Brewing
  May 13, 2011
• “You Are Your Own Twin”
  September 29, 2011
• The 10 Dumbest Meat-Related Crimes
  January 24, 2012

More About

• Cleburne
• University Museum
• Texas Southern University
• House and Home
• Home Furnishings

A heavy spiked iron collar is a chilling representation of a slave’s desperation. It was a punishment — worn by those who attempted (and failed) to run away. The collar, along with 200 other objects, is part of the exhibit “Drapetomania: A Disease Called Freedom.” Coined by doctors in the 1800s, “drapetomania” referred to a slave’s need to be free; the prescription was torture. The exhibit explores the horrors and triumphs experienced by American slaves through a collection of photographs, auction notices, journals, books, pieces of furniture, weapons of torture and more. Each object not only adds to the understanding of why a slave would want to be free but also illustrates the courage it took to escape. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Through August 31. University Museum at Texas Southern University, 3100 Cleburne. For information, call 713-313-7145 or visit www.tsu.edu/museum. Free.
Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: June 20. Continues through Aug. 31, 2008