Supply Train and Mules [verso] 1864

Editor: Here we have Winslow Homer's 1864 pencil drawing, "Supply Train and Mules [verso]". It’s a very faint sketch; the supply train almost blends into the paper. What historical narratives do you see at play within this seemingly simple work? Curator: Given that this sketch was produced in 1864, at the height of the American Civil War, it’s impossible to separate this depiction of a supply train from the intense conflict over labor, resources, and human rights that was devastating the country. Who was being supplied, and for what purpose? Editor: The North, I would assume. I guess I hadn’t considered who was doing the supplying, and at whose expense. Curator: Exactly. And consider the role of the mules in this image. Animals, along with enslaved people, were forced to bear the immense weight of war. They represent exploited labor and subjugation that fueled both sides of the conflict. Editor: So even a sketch this simple can point to some very complicated issues. Curator: Absolutely. Think about who had the power to depict this scene, and whose perspective is absent. What would a formerly enslaved person's depiction of this supply train look like? Homer’s sketch provides a lens, but it's crucial to acknowledge the silences, the other stories that remain untold within this historical moment. Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way. The drawing is silent on all those injustices. Curator: The image serves as a prompt. It's our responsibility to fill in those gaps in the narrative by reflecting on whose stories have historically been excluded. Editor: That's powerful. I'll never look at a landscape sketch from that period in the same way.