Hidden Histories, Historical Marker Resource
Mary Gay House
This Hidden History was created by SCAD student Sidney St. Germain as part of her SCAD art history department coursework, with guidance from art history professor Holly Goldstein, Ph.D., in 2025.
The Mary Gay House historical marker was dedicated in 1981. View the Mary Gay House historical marker listing.
Gallery
1: Mary Gay House Historical Marker, Georgia Historical Society
2: Portrait of Mary Ann Harris Gay, History of American Women
3: Mary Gay House, Photograph
4: John Brown Illustrated Portrait
5: Cover of Slave life in Georgia: A narrative of the life, sufferings, and escape of John Brown, a fugitive slave now in England
6: First Page of Slave life in Georgia: A narrative of the life, sufferings, and escape of John Brown, a fugitive slave now in England
7: Author Portrait of Slave life in Georgia: A narrative of the life, sufferings, and escape of John Brown, a fugitive slave now in England
8: Author Portrait of Slave life in Georgia: A narrative of the life, sufferings, and escape of John Brown, a fugitive slave now in England
9: ‘The Shape of Survival’ by Diedrick Brackens
Figure 10: ‘Slave Picking Cotton on a Plantation’ by William Ludlow Sheppard
11: Collage by Sidney St. Germain, 2025
12: Collage by Sidney St. Germain, 2025
13: Collage by Sidney St. Germain, 2025
By learning about the life and legacy of John Brown, a crucial truth about American history is uncovered. It is stories like Brown’s that form a complete picture of the past and act as a testament to the voices of history that have often been silenced. It is for this reason I have decided to focus on memorializing the words John Brown shared that have rung true for many enslaved people during this period. In confronting these uncomfortable truths, it is understood how to heal and ensure history is neither forgotten nor repeated. My art speaks to the overshadowed narrative of enslaved people. Inspired by Diedrick Brackens ‘The Shape of Survival’ (Figure 9), I wanted to show how writers, like John Brown, provide context to what happened to the enslaved people of plantations that are commonly overlooked.
I wanted to confront the often-whitewashed imagery of plantation life by recontextualizing a reproduction of ‘Slave Picking Cotton on a Plantation’ by William Ludlow Sheppard. By removing the silhouettes of each of the enslaved figures, I was able to fill them with passages from John Brown’s narrative that spoke to the treatment he endured during his time on a cotton plantation. His words give a voice and presence to those who have been silenced and whose stories have never been told. The layers of texture weave the narrative further. The course burlap touches on the garments forced to be worn by the enslaved and the indigo-dyed denim skies reference one of the many exports produced by the exploitation of slave labor. The collaged, torn, and crinkled elements are reminiscent of the fragmented pieces of history that come together to form a complete image. They are just a glimpse into the uncomfortable truths throughout history that have been otherwise forgotten and overlooked.
Decaturish.com. “Guest Editorial: Frankly, I Don’t Give a Damn about Mary Gay.” Decaturish, December 6, 2022.
Guest Editorial: Frankly, I don’t give a damn about Mary Gay | Decatur | decaturish.com.
“Mary Gay House.” Explore Georgia’s historical markers. Accessed April 29, 2025.
https://historicalmarkers.georgiahistory.com/?dlg=Project-Details&page=Home-Page&views=View-1#data_s=id%3AdataSource_4-18accc0d777-layer-2%3A464
GAY, MARY ANN HARRIS. Life in Dixie During the War: 1861-1862-1863-1864-1865. S.l.: LEGARE STREET PRESS, 2022.
Brown, John, and Louis Alexis Chamerovzow. Slave life in Georgia: A narrative of the life, sufferings, and escape of John Brown, a fugitive slave now in England. London: British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 1855.
Wood, Betty. Georgia women: Volume 1: Their lives and times. University of Georgia Press, 2009.
Sheppard, William Ludlow. Slaves Picking Cotton on a Plantation. 19AD,
https://www.niceartgallery.com/William-Ludlow-Sheppard/Slaves-Picking-Cotton-on-a-Plantation.html. Accessed 2025.
Deaton , Stan. “A Monumental Mistake.” Off the Deaton Path . Lecture, 2025.
“Slave Life on Southern Plantations - Slavery and the Civil War - National 5 History Revision - BBC Bitesize.” BBC News, January 26, 2023.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/znycnrd/revision/2.