Matheson History Museum Chains of Steele Exhibition Opening Reception
- When: Wednesday, August 19, 2026, 7:00 pm
- Location: Matheson History Museum 513 E University Ave, Gainesville, FL 32601
- Cost: Free, no registration required
Tour the brand-new exhibition, meet the curator, and enjoy refreshments.
"Chains of Steele: Money, Power, and Influence" will examine two ancestors of Gainesville’s Matheson family, Augustus and Augusta Steele, and the ways that they interacted with and benefitted from the institution of American slavery.
Augustus was born in 1792 in Massachusetts, and at the time of his birth slavery was outlawed in that state. At the time of his death, he was a devoted Confederate official, advocate for slavery, and enslaver. The exhibit will look at what choices brought him to that point and how he benefited from those choices.
His only child, Augusta, was part of the last generation that grew up supported by the institution of slavery. She turned 18 in 1865, the year that emancipation reached Florida and the rebellion collapsed. The ways that her life went on afterwards tell us something about the long-lasting impacts slavery had on our history.
This original exhibition will feature Matheson Family photos rarely on display, excerpts from the family’s papers, and a memorial to the people the Steeles enslaved with the first biographies ever written about these individuals.
The exhibition is sponsored in part by Visit Gainesville/Alachua County, FL.
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- Category: Other, Free
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