At last I was able to visit the new “Made in Cincinnati” exhibit at the Cincinnati Museum Center and see the display on Henry Boyd, a black 19th century furniture maker who bought his way out of slavery in Kentucky and built an impressive furniture company in downtown Cincinnati.
We are working on a children’s book about Boyd that is in the final stages of illustration and – we hope – will be out before Christmas.
The new permanent exhibit on Boyd makes me happy. While his story is well-known in the black community and among furniture-makers, his achievements are the sort of thing that should get a public school named after you.
The display has one of his famous beds, which is cool to see without any mattress or bedding. Plus there is an interactive exhibit that shows you how his threaded bedstead rails worked (the display has metal screws whereas Boyd’s were wood).
There are also displays that document Boyd’s life and career, a selection of tools from the period and the workbench that we built with the help of readers for the exhibit.
All in all, it’s a great start to opening the eyes of the general community about Boyd. I hope our book will also help. And then maybe we should talk some more about naming a school after him.
— Christopher Schwarz
Already before, this was on the list of things to see while in Cincinnati, and now ‘tis even more so – so thanks for the teaser-grade look-in!
Cheers,
Mattias
Thanks!
Usually museums have something associated with their exhibits in the gift shops. Has the museum expressed an interest in the children’s book for their gift shop? Just curious.
Yes. They plan to carry it.
Great! I can’t wait! Now I’ll have a great Christmas present for myself. There’s one thing missing from your store, however. I have about 10 LAP books so far plus a couple dozen other woodworking and furniture history books. they currently all have various scraps of paper or other junk beween the pages as bookmarks. How about a classy Lost Art Press bookmark so I can treat these great books with the reverence they deserve?
Thanks!
Howdy! Search the blog for ‘print your own’ (https://blog.lostartpress.com/page/2/?s=print+your+own) and you will find several posts with links to download various logos. You can then print as many bookmarks as needed. Maybe not as elegant as a four color print of Chris in superhero tights, but it will certainly cement your LAP street cred.
For me personally, the width of the paper I tear to make bookmarks signifies the importance of that section. Weird, I know, but it works for me.
Can’t wait for this book so I can add it to my class.
Off topic i appreciate: was “L’art du trait de charpenterie” ever published in English? Thanks
Not to my knowledge. But there are Americans deep into sterotomy that you should check with.
So basically a bed put together with turnbuckles…interesting!
Did he (or anyone) patent this?
Answered my own question…someone else patented it. 🙁
https://www.nkytribune.com/2019/02/our-rich-history-henry-boyd-once-a-slave-became-a-prominent-african-american-furniture-maker/
I visited the CMC for the first time last weekend. That whole section was cool.