Envisioning Paul Cuffe

Can you imagine the life of Paul Cuffe? Ray Shaw, a Westport resident and graphic artist, uses watercolor sketches to help visualize the past. His graphite and loose watercolor ‘storybook’ style challenges the viewer to use their imagination to interpret a given subject.  

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Paul Cuffe, a Brief Biography

Please visit www.PaulCuffe.org to learn more   Paul Cuffe was born on Cuttyhunk Island, at the west end of the Elizabeth Islands chain in Massachusetts, on January 17, 1759. He was the seventh child and fourth son of Cuff Slocum, an emancipated slave from West Africa, and Ruth Moses, a Native American woman from Cape […]

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“Whoso gives the motive, makes his brother’s sin his own.”

Our collection includes a bound set of The Non-Slaveholder, a 19th century publication with a special approach to the anti-slavery movement. “Whoso gives the motive, makes his brother’s sin his own.” This caption appears under the title of “The Non-Slaveholder”, a mid-19th century publication dedicated to the anti-slavery movement.  The publication focused not only on […]

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African American Context

African-American residents of Westport played a vital role in the history of the town.  The keeping of slaves and indentured servants may have been practiced in the early town, though in general the Society of Friends did not support the slave trade.  The prominence of Quaker leaders in Old Dartmouth led to a 1716 debate […]

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Paul Cuffe Symposium Papers

Exploring Paul Cuffe: The Man and his Legacy A Public Symposium Saturday October 3, 2009 Opening keynote by Lamont Thomas Lamont Thomas is the author of “Rise to be a People: A Biography of Paul Cuffe” Local Relationships and Cuffe Paul Cuffe’s Social Networks and Entrepreneurial Success by Marion Kilson Marion Kilson, scholar, Museum of […]

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