The concept of ”history from below” is an attempt to create historical narratives built on common people’s lived experiences rather than events driven by generals, rulers, and famous names—particularly telling stories through perspective of marginalized people.
One could hardly imagine someone more marginalized than Benjamin Lay, the subject of a book by Pitt historian Marcus Rediker, who is a proponent of history from below. The book subsequently became a graphic novel and is now a one-person play written by Rediker and playwright Naomi Wallace. The Return of Benjamin Lay, featuring actor and activist Mark Povinelli, will have its U.S. premiere January 31 at the Braddock Carnegie Library.
Lay was a dwarf who lived around Philadelphia in the mid-18th century. Among many attributes, he was a Quaker abolitionist activist at a time when slavery was allowed within the Quaker Society of Friends and accepted as a social and economic cornerstone of colonial America. He was banned from meetings of four Quaker congregations for his unabashed, confrontational and often theatrical denunciations of slave owners.
Lay was also an early advocate of women’s rights, vegetarianism and self-reliance.
“The idea of the play is that Benjamin has returned from the dead and is addressing a Quaker meeting trying to convince them to take him back,” explains Rediker. “He wants to rejoin the community, but he's also angry.”
The heart of Lay’s message is that the congregation—and larger American society—should have listened to him about slavery.
“He saw himself as a prophet,” Rediker observes. “Part of his prophecy was that if we don't abolish slavery now, its poison will seep into our society. I think he's been proven right about that.”
The University Library System is hosting a pre-opening reception and presentation by Marcus Rediker on Thursday, Jan. 23 from 4:30– 6 p.m. in room 340, Archives & Special Collections Instruction Room in Hillman Library. Find more information. The Return of Benjamin Lay premieres on Friday, Jan. 31 at the Braddock Carnegie Library. Find tickets and more information.