‘These were real people’: New exhibit at Ritz Theatre Highlights Individuals from FOTM Database

Apr 22

Through May 2025, the Ritz Theatre & Museum in LaVilla presents “The Problem with Archives: The Runaways,” a poignant new art exhibit by Lillian Young that transforms words from 19th-century runaway slave advertisements into full portraits. Drawing on descriptions of over one hundred enslaved people—sourced via the Freedom on the Move database—Young crafted visual representations rooted in the individuals’ own depictions.