The Wyoming State Museum has added a temporary exhibit, “Tracks of Frontier Faith Exhibition”. The exhibit is about a former slave, Lucinda Philips. The Tracks of Frontier Faith Exhibition is only available through April 30th.
The exhibit focuses on four different segments. “The Exhibit tells the story of the overall ideas of the frontier fate, and it tells the story of how the new Pacific Railroad is tied to Lucinda Philips and the Allen Chapel African-American Episcopal Church (AME), and then the last part is my journey. So it includes those four things, and gives an overall overview,” says the exhibit curator, Dr. Camellia Okpodu. Okpodu can give a unique perspective, as she is a current member of the African-American Episcopal Church.
Because of her faith, and her positive experiences at African-American Episcopal Church, she was inspired to start this exhibit. “When people come to visit UW, I have colleagues who would come to visit, I would always make sure that they came to our state capitol and would show them around the museum. We have the Natural Science Museum and the Geology Museum here on campus, but I wanted them to see the state museum. A visitor from Atlanta, who was here as our climate champion last year, her name was Felicia Davis. Miss Davis and I were going through the museum and we noticed there was not a lot of representation of African Americans in the museum. She knew I was writing a play and she said ‘The story that you’re telling, how you got out here to the west, is very compelling. Maybe you should talk to them about doing an exhibit.’” said Okpodu.
Okpodu wanted to bring African-American culture to the State Museum, through the story of Lucinda Philips bringing the African American Episcopal Church to Wyoming. She also was inspired to start this exhibit, because of how much her faith, through the church, had given her. “On my first day of coming to UW, July 5th, 2021, I discovered on that day that I would no longer be doing the job I came here to do, as Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences. I had to rely on my faith. I think it’s very important for people to understand how I persevere.”
Researching and making it as accurate as it can be was a large factor in creating this exhibit. When asked about the beginning of her research, Okpodu said “I knew the history of the church because I grew up in this faith’s community. When I lived in Louisiana, I went to one of the older African Methodist Episcopal Churches called Saint James, so I knew the history of the church. I just wasn’t familiar with how the church got to the West. I found out, through my research, that the Union Pacific Railroad and General Grenville.” General Grenville played an important role in helping the Pacific Railroad acquire the land.
Okpodu encourages students to come to the museum exhibit. Okpodu said, “The story is one of perseverance. The narrative of my stories: I came here expecting to do one job, but on the first day was told my job was going away. So my people is that it tells or shows, not only the students here at Wyoming but everyone that views the exhibit, the importance of persevering. It shows you that you can do more. It’s not about where you start. It’s a matter of perspective, and finding opportunities to grow.”
The “Tracks of Frontier Faith” exhibit explores Lucinda Philips, a former slave, and her journey of bringing the African American Episcopal Church to Wyoming. This exhibit is open till April 30. at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne.
