The history of making stringed instruments is a long and well documented one. However, if you look closer you will see that there seem to be a few gaps. This week as I was doing my research I came across a few summaries from the April 11, 1828 edition of Freedom’s Journal. One of which discusses a man named Peter M. Slocum and describes him as a man who had an ingenious method of crafting string instruments, even saying that his method made the instruments sound better than those from Cremona, Italy (this is in reference to the violins of Stradivari, Amati, Guarneri, etc).
As this is such a hefty claim, it immediately piqued my interest. Much to my dismay, there was almost nothing to be found. I began to wonder if this man ever existed. A quick visit to Google did show one result: that there is documentation of one of his violins. It’s quite interesting looking, with almost no edges and shaped more like a guitar than a traditional violin.
Since I had half determined that this was an actual person, I decided to continue on. An extensive search in the Afro-Americana Imprints from the Library Company of Philadelphia database proved to be no help as almost all mentions of the violin were parts of stories such as Swallow Barn by JP Kennedy, where the author is either writing about someone playing violin, using it to describe a certain sound, or other various uses. I then traipsed over to Google Scholar in hope of finding something. I got one result, which was from a dissertation on American Violin making by Sarah Gilbert Pickett, a student at Florida State University. She mentions Slocum and even gives his dates and a footnote. As I excitedly check the footnote I am left in despair as I click the link and am sent to an error, as the page does not exist anymore. Furthermore, the footnote was from the website of the Boston Fine Arts museum and would have simply been about the guitar shaped violin of his they had on exhibit. Pickett describes him as a “particularly interesting” violin maker but offers no solid proof that she has any information about him other than his interesting looking violin.
I have now been left with more questions than answers. Could it be due to his race or some other aspect about himself that there is such little information? Since I was unable to find out anything in that regard, I do not know. How does someone who has left entire instruments behind have almost no actual documentation? Could this possibly be a pen name someone was operating under? What can we do to uncover these lost histories and is there any way that can even happen?
Works Referenced:
Guitar-shaped violin – works – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Accessed October 11, 2024. https://collections.mfa.org/objects/51310.
Kennedy, John Pendleton. Swallow barn, or A sojourn in the Old Dominion. By J.P. Kennedy. New York City: George P. Putnam, 1851. Readex: Afro-Americana Imprints from the Library Company of Philadelphia. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/doc?p=AFAMER&docref=image/v2%3A13D59FCC0F7F54B8%40EAIX-147E02C84431E210%40-14BA4E5019A86BA0%4023.
Pickett, Sarah Gilbert. “Tradition and Innovation in American Violin Making.” Order No. 28320843, The Florida State University, 2021, https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/tradition-innovation-american-violin-making/docview/2547053260/se-2 (accessed October 11, 2024).
“Summary.” Freedom’s Journal (New York, New York), April 11, 1828: 5. Readex: African American Newspapers. https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/doc?http://p=EANAAA&docref=image/v2%3A132FB88A16969E1C%40EANAAA-132FC8D8C1791728%402388824-132FC3AB84B04D58%404-1389CB5BB343DEC0%40Summary.