A staircase in a small, decorative arts museum tells a harrowing story of terror, abuse and enslavement

A staircase in a small, decorative arts museum tells a harrowing story of terror, abuse and enslavement

A monument to survival and perseverance has survived, by happenstance, to share its stories today. Courtesy of the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts (MESDA) at Old SalemFrom the ages of 12 to about 22, Harriet Jacobs lived under the watch of her enslaver, a wealthy physician named James Norcom Sr. During that decade, as Jacobs grew from a child to a young woman, Norcom psychologically and physically terrorized her. Once, when she was a te…