Envisioning Paul Cuffe
Posted on February 3, 2022 by Jenny ONeill
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.
When he returned to Westport from Sierra Leone in 1812, local customs officials seized his ship and cargo because he was bringing goods from what was then an enemy colony. Paul Cuffe traveled by stagecoach to Washington to seek recovery of his ship and cargo. He was able to meet with President James Madison at the White House and obtain an order releasing his ship and cargo. He was probably the first person of color to be received at the White House by an American President.
