Presence and Absence in Pennsylvania
Carved Head of Captain John Carlton by John Fisher, c. 1786.
The sculpture, in the collections of the York County History Center, is a keystone object through which to dissect the intersectionality of historical place on the Susquehanna River and the ways in which indigenous memory has been wiped from south central Pennsylvania identity and common cultural knowledge. The object offers a means through which to discuss the intensity of violence against local indigenous people; the practice of invisibility by non-whites to avoid white settler violence, and the uses of material and visual culture to expand the upcoming commemoration of America 250.