Use of images from the collections of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center is strictly prohibited by law without prior written consent from the copyright holders. The responsibility for the use of these materials rests exclusively with the user. The Bradley Center may assist in obtaining copyright/licensing permission to use images from the Richard Cross collection. http://www.csun.edu/bradley-center/contact
Description
Full length portrait of two men standing in high grass. One of them is Fermín Herrera, holding a rifle on his shoulder, and the other, the one carrying a machete, is photographer Richard Cross. As a young adult, Herrera left the town to go work for the United Fruit Company in the Magdalena province. He worked in the plantation until 1928, when workers went on strike and the soldiers opened fire killing more than a thousand workers. After that event, he went back to San Basilio de Palenque and prospered. In the 1970s, he owned around 300 cattle and 500 acres of land. San Basilio de Palenque, a town located 31 miles from Cartagena, is considered the first community to officially free enslaved people in the Americas because, on August 23, 1691, the Spanish King Charles II signed a royal charter recognizing the freedom of the runaway communities in the María Mountains. Local authorities, however, did not sign a treaty with these communities until January of 1714 acknowledging their freedom and ordering the establishment of the town of Palenque San Basilio Magno. People in San Basilio de Palenque speak a Spanish-based creole language known as Palenquero. According to local public records, in 1975 the village had 2,400 residents (mostly farmers or day laborers) and 388 houses. Colombian anthropologist Nina S. de Friedemann had been studying the Afro-Colombian community of San Basilio de Palenque for the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and Richard Cross joined her to do work as a visual anthropologist in June 1975. This image illustrates Cross's anthropological category: Social organization. Retrato de cuerpo entero de dos hombres de pie en la hierba alta. Uno de ellos es Fermín Herrera, con un rifle en el hombro, y el otro, el que lleva un machete, es el fotógrafo Richard Cross. Cuando era un adulto joven, Herrera dejó Palenque para ir a trabajar para la United Fruit Company en la provincia de Magdalena. Trabajó en la plantación hasta 1928, cuando los trabajadores se declararon en huelga y los soldados abrieron fuego matando a más de mil trabajadores. Después de ese evento, regresó a San Basilio de Palenque y prosperó. En la década de 1970, poseía alrededor de 300 reses y 500 acres de tierra. San Basilio de Palenque, ubicada a 50 kilómetros de Cartagena, es considerada la primera comunidad de personas esclavizadas libres de América porque, el 23 de agosto de 1691, el rey español Carlos II firmó una carta real que reconocía la libertad de las comunidades en los Montes de María. Las autoridades locales, sin embargo, no firmaron un tratado con las comunidades de personas esclavizadas sino hasta enero de 1714 reconociendo su libertad y ordenando el establecimiento de la ciudad de Palenque San Basilio Magno. La gente en San Basilio de Palenque habla una lengua criolla con base en el español conocida como palenquero. Según los registros públicos, en 1975 el pueblo tenía 2,400 residentes (en su mayoría agricultores o jornaleros) y 388 casas. La antropóloga colombiana Nina S. de Friedemann había estado estudiando la comunidad afrocolombiana de San Basilio de Palenque para el Instituto Colombiano de Antropología y Richard Cross se unió a ella para trabajar como antropólogo visual en junio de 1975. Esta imagen ilustra las categorías antropológicas de Cross:
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