PBS Film Review by Kam Williams
Excellent (4 stars)
When Katrina Browne's grandmother wrote her memoirs, one chapter revealed a long-suppressed secret, namely, that the DeWolf family had been the most successful slave traders in the entire United States. In fact, one ancestor, United States Senator James DeWolf of Rhode Island, had become the second richest person in America at the time of his death.
And he had been considerably assisted in that endeavor by
none other than President Thomas Jefferson who appointed James'
brother-in-law in a critical position as a federal customs
official. The family's vertically-integrated business was run
like a modern conglomerate and controlled every aspect of the
evil enterprise from the ships to the plantations to the
manufacturing of shackles to the barrels for transporting rum.
Thus, we hear the close-knit kin recite a nursery rhyme
passed down for generations, a catchy ditty about a couple of
African children given by the DeWolf patriarch to his wife as
Christmas presents. On another occasion, they reflect upon how
as children they were taught never to talk about three subjects:
’sex, politics and Negroes.’ Meanwhile, they also acknowledge
the advantages attached to being born American bluebloods, given
that 9 out of 10 of their fathers attended Ivy League colleges:
Harvard (5), Brown (2) and Princeton (2).
Traces of the Trade premieres on PBS on P.O.V. on Tuesday June 24th at 10 PM ET. (check local listings)
Related LinksInheriting the Trade: A Northern Family Confronts Its Legacy as the Largest Slave-Trading Dynasty in U.S. History by Thomas Norman DeWolf
To see a trailer of Traces of the Trade