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Sculpture

Ruth Blay Mural at 163 Court Street

Mural Title: Remembering Ruth Blay, 1737-1768
Teacher; Seamstress; Unwed Mother

History


In 1768, Ruth Blay, a 31-year-old teacher from South Hampton, was tried, convicted, and publicly hanged for concealing the body of her illegitimate baby.

Concealment was punishable by death by hanging, unless the woman could prove the baby was stillborn. In Blay’s final words, written on the eve of her execution, she maintained the child was stillborn, which she could have proven had she been properly advised by her lawyer.

She, and other women before her, were victims of their gender, class, social status, the mores of the time and harsh provincial law.


The last woman executed in New Hampshire, Ruth Blay’s body lies buried in an unmarked grave in what is now South Street Cemetery.

- Carolyn Marvin, Historian
Author of Hanging Ruth Blay, an Eighteenth Century Tragedy, The History Press, 2010 

 

This is the first mural by Friends of Ruth Blay (FORB)  in a project called history Through Art which plans on developing murals of the overlooked women in the history of the Seacoast area.

Graphic art work was by Deb McNeilly of DBG Design.
Drawing by Carl Aichele.
Concept and Design by Terrence Parker.
Project funded by Kristen and Todd Adelman.


Deciphering the Art

  • Ruth Blay stands tall and looks straight at the viewer.
  • She steps forward suggests self-assuredness.
  • She is modestly dressed, with her neck exposed to suggest her vulnerability.
  • She is pregnant, and her left hand supports the roundness of her belly.
  • A rope is repeatedly coiled around her belly to emphasize her pregnancy and reference the umbilical cord and the connection to her stillborn baby.
  • The looped rope loop references the noose of her hanging and suggests her sexuality.
  • Her right hand is outstretched and extends to the viewer a request for understanding and compassion given her situation and the laws of the era. This hand calls into question the testimony of her enemies, who she states bore false witness against her and in God’s judgment, they “will answer it another Day.”

 

Click on any thumbnail for a larger view.



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163.A Court Street  ·  Portsmouth, NH 03801  ·  603.531.9109

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