Escape Through The Dismal

Escape Through the Dismal is a graphic narrative based on the oral history of John H. Nichols who was enslaved in North Eastern North Carolina and who escaped in 1862 to a camp set up by the Union Army in Virginia through the treacherous Dismal Swamp when he was only 14.

The book project consists of approximately 40 12x17 watercolor/digital illustrations accompanied by excerpts of Nichols’ narrative and a subtext which is a poem I wrote based on oral histories of people who were enslaved in North Carolina in the same time period and region as Nichols. The book will be a richly illustrated graphic text that is a hybrid form, a cross between a children’s book, a graphic novel, and an artist’s book. I am hoping it might appeal to readers over the age of 10 with an interest in African American history. The illustrations are based on historical images, and pictures of the rich historical landscape through which Nichols traveled.

I first learned about the story through the work of historian David Cecelski and his blog. https://davidcecelski.com/2019/10/14/escape-through-the-dismal-swamp/