When Mark Twain published Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1885, he turned Hannibal, Missouri, into one of the most famous towns in the American imagination. But like Twain’s novel, Hannibal’s idyllic façade often elided the darker racial violence that had marked its past, and it overlooked the history and humanity of the Black residents who have called Hannibal home for generations. Without them, there would be no “America’s hometown.”
In Hannibal’s Invisibles, G. Faye Dant, a Hannibal resident and the Executive Director of Jim’s Journey: The Huck Finn Freedom Center, tells the incredible story of the Black community in this small Missouri town, giving voice to a history that has been marginalized far too long. Hear first-hand accounts from those who survived enslavement, faced racism after emancipation, endured Jim Crow, and contributed to the triumphs of the civil rights movement. These are the stories of Black doctors, entrepreneurs, and teachers who helped uplift the community, and remembrances of the countless individuals who gave richness and meaning to Hannibal’s everyday life. The vintage photographs and historical documents collected here are a celebration of these resilient people who built and sustained this corner of the Midwest, despite the immense obstacles they met at every turn.
Looking for a copy? Purchase through the publisher Belt Publishing, major booksellers, or indie bookstores via Bookshop.org. All proceeds from the sale of Hannibal's Invisibles will support the vital work of Jim's Journey: The Huck Finn Freedom Center.
Artist G. Faye Dant & Jim's Journey are supported by the Spillway initiative of Art of the Rural. Through support for artists, culture bearers, artisans, and storytellers – alongside the local organizations that support them – Spillway works to create the conditions for engaged projects that honor diverse lived experience, deepen regional relationships, and build rural-urban networks of knowledge-sharing and exchange that will create opportunities for artists, culture bearers, and artisans to thrive, connect with new colleagues and audiences.
Spillway is organized by Art of the Rural, in collaboration with Honoring Dakota, the Winona County Historical Society, and Engage Winona in Winona, Minnesota; photographer Joseph J. Allen and Manoomin Arts Initiative in Mahnomen, MN and White Earth Nation; artist Faye Dant and Jim’s Journey: The Huck Finn Freedom Center in Hannibal, Missouri; community leader Roberta Rogers and the Historical Society of Brooklyn, Illinois, with architect Alicia Ajayi; the artists, culture bearers, and writers of the Crossings field school in the St. Louis region; and The American Bottom Project in the East St. Louis region.
Art of the Rural is grateful for support for Spillway from the Chicago Community Foundation, McKnight Foundation, and Minnesota State Arts Board.
Hannibal's Invisibles (Belt Publishing)
A long-term, collaborative initiative grounded in the cultures, communities, and histories of the Upper Mississippi River region.
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