NMAAHC Collections Search

Evening coat made by Louvenia Price

Created by: Price, Louvenia, American, 1857 - 1935
Subject of: Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007

Medium: silk velvet, silk satin, fur, and metal
Dimensions: H x W x D (On Form): 54 × 26 × 19 1/2 in. (137.2 × 66 × 49.5 cm); H x W x D (In box): 52 × 22 × 6 in. (132.1 × 55.9 × 15.2 cm)

Type: evening coats

Place made: Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1870-1900

Caption: This wearable work of art was handed down to the maker's descendants. Louvenia Price, who was born enslaved, continued to work as a seamstress after she was emancipated. Price made this cape for her own use.
Description: This mid-calf length evening coat is made of a deep teal silk velvet with brown fur cuffs and a black silk satin lining. A decorative black silk cord is sewn to the exterior of the garment to form swirls, floral motifs, feather motifs, and other designs popular in the late Victorian period. The sleeves begin near the wearer's elbow, creating a cape-like silhouette from the proper front. The coat closes along the proper center front with a series of hook-and-eye closures, with the hooks and the eyes alternating along the proper left and proper right sides of the opening. The proper back is shaped to accommodate a large bustle. The band collar also contains applied braid designs, and closes at the proper front neck with two (2) hook-and-eye closures. The interior fabric is quilted in a diagonal pattern, but the quilting does not show through to the exterior of the garment. There is one set-in pocket on the proper left front of the interior. Attached at the center back of the interior are two accordion-like fabric pieces and two long black ribbons, likely used to adjust the fit at the waist line and to secure the coat to the wearer's body.

Topic: African American; Clothing and dress; Emancipation; Fashion; Freedom; Slavery; Women

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane

Object number: 2007.3.2

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Collection title: Black Fashion Museum Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Clothing-Fashion

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Dress made by an unidentified enslaved woman or women

Created by: Unidentified Woman or Women
Subject of: Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007

Medium: cotton (textile), muslin
Dimensions: H x W x D (On Form): 47 1/2 x 23 x 20 in. (120.7 x 58.4 x 50.8 cm); Waist: 25 1/2 in. (64.8 cm); H x W (In box, padded out): 45 1/4 × 22 × 9 1/2 in. (114.9 × 55.9 × 24.1 cm)

Type: dresses

Place made: Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1845-1865

Description: This is a handstitched long-sleeved dress with a full skirt made from a balanced plain-weave printed cotton. The sleeves are gathered at the back shoulder seam and the shoulder seam is dropped in the back. The bodice is gathered at the front waist and has a neck band with no collar. Both the neck band and the waist band are fussy cut to display the printed design. Piping is attached at the armholes and along the bottom of the waistband. The skirt is gathered at the front hips and the back with a flat panel along the center front waist. On the proper back bodice, three (3) glass buttons are sewn on the left side of the back opening (placket), with four (4) button holes on the right side. At the waist, two (2) decorative buttons are sewn on the right side of the opening, without corresponding button holes on the left side. The hem is turned up 3 1/2". The bodice and sleeves are lined with muslin, while the skirt is unlined. The printed pattern on the fabric is four (4) colors and black, with a base color of reddish brown, on top of which is a repeating pattern of columns of red roses alternating with columns of diamonds and clubs on a cream background inside a black, orange, and red border.

Topic: African American; Clothing and dress; Slavery

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane

Object number: 2007.3.4

Restrictions & Rights: Public domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Collection title: Black Fashion Museum Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Clothing-Historical
Exhibition: Slavery and Freedom
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 3, C3 053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Printed floral skirt worn by Lucy Lee Shirley as a child

Created by: Unidentified
Worn by: Shirley, Lucy Lee, American, 1855 - 1929
Subject of: Black Fashion Museum, American, 1979 - 2007

Medium: bast fiber, wool textile, and synthetic fiber
Dimensions: H x W (Flat): 18 × 33 1/2 in. (45.7 × 85.1 cm); Waist: 24 1/2 in. (62.2 cm)

Type: skirts

Place used: Leesburg, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, North and Central America

Date: ca. 1860

Description: A child's circular skirt in a floral print with a pleated flounce on the hem. The main fabric is a plain weave natural fiber fabric with a cream ground and a repeating pattern of small four-petal flowers in red, purple, blue, and tan. The skirt is predominantly hand-sewn. It has a waistband made from an undyed bast fiber fabric with the floral print gathered and whip stitched to the waistband. The skirt is more closely gathered on the back. There is a slit at the center back that divides the waistband completely. There is no attached closure method, but rust staining at the back opening of the waistband suggests the skirt was pinned to close. The bottom of the skirt has an extra flounce of the floral print that has a series of pleats around the skirt in sets of three alternating with straight sections. This flounce is machine-sewn at the top and 1 1/2 inches from the bottom using blue thread that is possibly a synthetic fiber. The bottom and top edges of the flounce are bound with blue fabric sewn on the bias. The interior of the skirt is lined only behind the extra flounce with a hand-pinked undyed bast fiber fabric. There is a previous repair on the back proper right side of the skirt where a panel of light brown synthetic fabric is hand sewn on the interior of the skirt from the gathering at the waist to the top of the older linen lining on the bottom.

Topic: African American; Children; Clothing and dress; Slavery

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Black Fashion Museum founded by Lois K. Alexander-Lane

Object number: 2007.3.5

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Collection title: Black Fashion Museum Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Clothing-Historical
Exhibition: Slavery and Freedom
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 3, C3 053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Shackles

Created by: Unidentified

Medium: iron
Dimensions: H x W x D: 2 1/2 x 9 x 1 1/4 in. (6.4 x 22.9 x 3.2 cm)

Type: shackles

Date: Before 1860

Description: Shackles consist of an iron bolt with a pair of loops slid onto it thorugh a hole in each end of the loop. One end of the bar is fixed closed by an integral metal flange large enough to prevent the loops from being removed. The other end of the bar ends in an "eye" and is locked by a large "lock washer" inserted at the time the shackles were applied.

Topic: African American; Africa; Trans Atlantic slave trade

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2008.10.4

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects
Exhibition: Slavery and Freedom
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 3, C3 053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Carte-de-visite of women and children in a cotton field

Photograph by: Aylsworth, J. H., American
Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women; Unidentified Child or Children

Medium: albumen and silver nitrate on photographic paper
Dimensions: H x W: 2 1/2 x 3 3/4 in. (6.4 x 9.5 cm)

Type: cartes-de-visite; albumen prints; portraits

Date: 1860s

Description: In this photograph, very young children stand alongside adults in the cotton field. The women wear dresses, and one young boy can be seen holding a hat.

Topic: African American; Agriculture; Photography; Slavery

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2008.9.26

Restrictions & Rights: Public domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Media Arts-Photography

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

The Sale

Carte-de-visite of a slave auction

Created by: Stephens, Henry Louis, American, 1821 - 1886

Medium: lithographic ink on cardboard
Dimensions: H x W: 4 x 2 1/2 in. (10.2 x 6.4 cm)

Type: color lithographs

Date: ca. 1863

Description: This color lithograph on a carte-de-visite card depicts an enslaved man being sold at auction by a white man with a hat and beard who is calling out and gesticulating. The slave carries a hat in his right hand and lowers his eyes to the ground.

Topic: African American; Caricature and cartoons; Domestic slave trade

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2008.9.53

Restrictions & Rights: Public domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Visual Arts; Slavery and Freedom Objects

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Ledger of supply costs for eleven Revolutionary War soldiers

Created by: Goodrich, Isaac, American
Subject of: Simbo, Prince, American, ca. 1737 - 1810

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 12 7/16 x 8 in. (31.6 x 20.3 cm)

Type: documents

Place made: Glastonbury, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1782

Description: A one page, legal-size document that lists soldiers, both black and white, and the cost of supplies for each man for the year 1781.

Topic: African American; Free communities of color; Military; United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.14.2

Restrictions & Rights: Public domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Documents and Published Materials; Slavery and Freedom Objects

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Seaman's Protection Certificate for Robert Barnaby

Created by: Barker, J. N., American
Subject of: Barnaby, Robert, American, born 1807

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 8 1/2 x 10 3/8 in. (21.6 x 26.4 cm)

Type: citizenship papers

Place made: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America

Date: April 21, 1834

Description: Originally issued in 1826, this is an official copy of an early manuscript Seaman's Protection Certificate for Robert Barnaby (April 21, 1834). The certificate describes him as as "a Citizen of the United States of America," with "black complexion, black eyes, wooly hair."

Topic: African American; Free communities of color; Military; United States--History--War of 1812

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.14.3

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Documents and Published Materials-Business and Legal Documents
Exhibition: Double Victory: The African American Military Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Community/Third Floor, 3 053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Proof copy of the first printing of The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850

Created by: United States Congress, American, founded 1789
Printed by: Ritchie, Thomas, American, 1778 - 1854

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 9 3/4 x 7 11/16 in. (24.8 x 19.5 cm)

Type: laws

Date: 1850

Description: Proof copy of the first printing of The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 consisting of a single leaf folded sheet to form four pages, quarto, on U.S. Government-issued blue stock printed in black ink. There are two annotations handwritten in black ink -correcting "B it enacted" to "Be it enacted," and "courts of United States" to "courts of the United States."

Topic: African American; Law; Slavery; United States--History--1815-1861

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.14.4

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Documents and Published Materials-Published Works

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Letter to Mr. Young from Peter Van Bebber

Written by: Van Bebber, Peter, American

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 12 7/16 x 7 7/8 in. (31.6 x 20 cm)

Type: letters (correspondence)

Place made: Mount Sterling, Gasconade County, Missouri, United States, North and Central America

Date: November 18, 1855

Description: A handwritten letter in black ink on white paper. Peter Vanbebber, an enslaved preacher in Missouri, writes a white minister and asks to be bought from his present master for $1,000, and then allowed to emigrate to Liberia to serve the Lord. He says his master would agree to this arrangement and eagerly awaits an answer.

Topic: African American; Africa; Correspondence; Emancipation; Religion

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.14.5

Restrictions & Rights: Public Domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Documents and Published Materials; Slavery and Freedom Objects

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sharecropper's agreement between Daniel Weaver and James Crow

Created by: Unidentified
Subject of: Weaver, Daniel; Crow, James, American, born 1847

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 12 5/16 x 7 13/16 in. (31.3 x 19.8 cm)

Type: contracts

Place made: Lumpkin County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America

Date: March 11, 1867

Description: A one page document, legal-size, handwritten in black ink on lined paper.

Topic: African American; Agriculture; Emancipation; Labor; Reconstruction (United States History, 1865-1877)

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.14.6

Restrictions & Rights: Public Domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Documents and Published Materials-Business and Legal Documents

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Receipt for blankets given to soldiers Prince Simbo and Sampson Freeman

Created by: Unidentified
Subject of: Simbo, Prince, American, ca. 1737 - 1810; Freeman, Sampson, American

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 4 11/16 x 8 5/16 in. (11.9 x 21.1 cm)

Type: receipts

Place made: Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, North and Central America

Date: April 21, 1778

Description: One page, quatro receipt, written on both sides in black ink.

Topic: African American; Military; Slavery; United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.14.7

Restrictions & Rights: public domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Documents and Published Materials-Business and Legal Documents
Exhibition: Double Victory: The African American Military Experience
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Community/Third Floor, 3 053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Voucher of payment to Private Prince Simbo

Created by: Wales, Eleazer, American, 1732 - 1794
Subject of: Simbo, Prince, American, ca. 1737 - 1810

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 6 1/2 x 8 in. (16.5 x 20.3 cm)

Type: vouchers

Place made: Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, North and Central America

Date: March 20, 1783

Description: A payment voucher consisting of a one page document with embossed lettering and handwriting in black ink on both sides. The text begins with "Hartford March 20, 1783" and concerns payment to the Revolutionary War soldier Prince Simbo.; The payment voucher appears to have been filled out by Eleazer Wales on behalf of Prince Simbo. A mark appears with "his" above it and "mark" below it, and "Prince" to the left and "Simbo" to the right of it. Wales' signature appears to the bottom left of the type.

Topic: African American; Military; Slavery; United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.14.8

Restrictions & Rights: public domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Documents and Published Materials-Business and Legal Documents

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Jones-Hall-Sims House built by Richard Jones

Created by: Jones, Richard, American, born ca. 1810

Medium: wood
Dimensions: H x W x D (overall): 264 × 266 × 172 in. (670.6 × 675.6 × 436.9 cm); H (roof to peak): 76 in. (193 cm)

Type: houses

Place used: 6 Jonesville Terrace, Jonesville, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, North and Central America

Date: ca. 1874

Description: These are the surviving elements of the Jones-Hall-Sims House, a two-story log cabin built by formerly enslaved members of the Jones family. The body of the house is composed of heavy timbers fit together with saddle notches. The side gable roof is lightly framed. There is one (1) entrance to the house, at the proper right of the house's front side. This same side of the house has three (3) window openings, one on the lower level at proper left, one at upper left and one at upper right. On the back side of the house are four (4) window openings. Three (3) original joists remain between the first and second levels of the house. Inside the house, at center back, painted wood planks form a partition wall. Behind the partition wall are stairs leading to the former second level. Below the stairs is a small closet space accessible through a white-painted door in the partition wall. A small section of original chinking has been installed in between timbers on the second story interior wall of the house. The lower timbers of the house, having been directly exposed to the soil for decades, required full or partial replacement. This home was located in Jonesville, near what is now Poolesville, Maryland.

Topic: African American; Building Arts; Communities; Domestic life; Emancipation; Housing; Reconstruction (United States History, 1865-1877)

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Donated by Bradley and Shannon Rhoderick

Object number: 2009.25.1

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Buildings and Structures
Exhibition: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation, 1876-1968
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 2, C 2053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Oil lamp from the Jones-Hall-Sims House

Created by: Unidentified

Medium: glass, metal and cloth wick
Dimensions: H x W: 11 1/2 × 6 × 6 in. (29.2 × 15.2 × 15.2 cm)

Type: oil lamps

Place used: Poolesville, Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, North and Central America

Date: 1860-1900

Description: A clear glass oil lamp base from the Jones-Hall-Sims House. The body, or font, of the lamp is a lozenge shape, smooth with one (1) horizontal ridge line around the top. The font connects to a thick lamp stem with a vertical rib pattern that widens into a pedestal base. The wick runs up through a metal oil lamp burner that is attached to the lamp at an opening at the top of the font. The Queen Anne style metal oil lamp burner has a wick raiser, a small peg on one side to turn to raise the wick as it is burned, and three (3) remaining feet out of the original four (4) feet that could be used to hold a lamp chimney in place. The remaining length of the wick descends into the lamp font.

Topic: African American; Communities; Domestic life; Emancipation; Reconstruction (United States History, 1865-1877)

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Donated by Bradley and Shannon Rhoderick

Object number: 2009.25.5

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Furnishings, Housewares, and Décor
Exhibition: Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation, 1876-1968
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 2, C 2053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Petition signed by John Cuffe and Paul Cuffe regarding taxation

Written by: Unidentified
Signed by: Cuffe, John, American, 1752 - 1836; Cuffe, Paul, American, 1759 - 1817

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 8 1/2 × 8 in. (21.6 × 20.3 cm)

Type: petitions

Place made: Taunton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America

Date: December 19, 1780

Caption: Paul Cuffe was born a free man in Massachusetts. His mother was Native American and his father was of West African Ashanti lineage. An entrepreneur and philanthropist, Cuffe gained wealth as owner of an international shipping company. Despite his success, as an African American he was viewed as a second-class citizen and denied equal rights. As a taxpayer, Paul Cuffe petitioned the Massachusetts legislature in 1780 and demanded his right to vote. Free and enslaved African Americans petitioned for freedom, equality, and justice through the courts and state legislatures. They sought to assert their rights, promote their identity as citizens of the new nation, and challenge their status as enslaved people.; Source: Nancy Bercaw, Curator, Slavery and Freedom
Description: A petition to the court of Bristol County, Massachusetts, in Taunton written by an unidentified hand and signed by John Cuffe and Paul Cuffe. The text is handwritten in black ink on the front and back sides of the same sheet of paper. The petition is in regards to taxation by the state upon the signatories, who are of Indian descent and are arguing they are therefore not subject to such taxation.

Topic: African American; Free communities of color; Government; Justice; Law; Resistance; Suffrage; United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.26.1

Restrictions & Rights: Public Domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects; Documents and Published Materials-Business and Legal Documents
Exhibition: Slavery and Freedom
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 3, C3 053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Letter to Charles Humbert Marie Vincent signed by Toussaint Louverture

Written by: Unidentified
Signed by: Louverture, Toussaint, Haitian, 1743 - 1803
Received by: Vincent, Charles Humbert Marie, French, 1753 - 1831

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W x D: 39 x 23 x 2 in. (99.1 x 58.4 x 5.1 cm)

Type: letters (correspondence)

Place made: Cap-Haïtien, Nord, Haiti, Caribbean, Latin America, North and Central America
Place used: France, Europe

Date: October 21, 1797

Caption: Toussaint Louverture campaigned tirelessly on behalf of slaves during the Haitian Revolution, and his actions helped push France to abolish slavery in all its colonies in 1794. He wrote this letter in response to a speech in French parliament calling for slavery's restoration on Saint-Domingue. He warned the French that he would fight for Haitian independence if France ever revoked abolition.
Description: A letter signed by Toussaint Louverture to Charles Humbert Marie Vincent from Cap-Français (now Cap-Haïtien), Haiti, on October 21, 1797. The text itself was recorded by a scribe as Louverture's written French was limited, though the content comprises his own thoughts. At the top of the first page is pre-printed letterhead for Toussaint Louverture, Chief General of the Army of Saint-Domingue. The letter is handwritten in black ink on the front and back sides of two (2) sheets of paper. The contents of the letter are in regards to ongoing conflicts in the French colony of Saint Domingue, later the free nation of Haiti, and military leader Louverture's dissatisfaction with a speech given in the French parliament earlier in 1797 in which Viénot de Vaublanc spoke against abolition and people of African descent as uncivilized.

Topic: African American; Antislavery; Correspondence; Freedom; Government; Justice; Military; Resistance

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.26.2ab

Restrictions & Rights: public domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Documents and Published Materials; Slavery and Freedom Objects
Exhibition: Slavery and Freedom
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 3, C3 053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Letter written by John Brown and Frederick Douglass to Brown's wife and children

Written by: Douglass, Frederick, American, 1818 - 1895; Brown, John, American, 1800 - 1859
Received by: Brown, Mary Ann, American, 1817 - 1884

Medium: ink on paper
Dimensions: H x W: 9 7/8 x 7 7/8 in. (25.1 x 20 cm)

Type: letters (correspondence)

Place made: Rochester, Monroe County, New York, United States, North and Central America

Date: January 30, 1858

Description: A letter written by John Brown and Frederick Douglass from Rochester, New York, on January 30, 1858, to Brown's wife and children. The letter is handwritten in black ink on the front and back sides of a single sheet of paper. The letter is first written by Brown, who does not sign his portion beyond "Your Affectionate Husband and Father." Brown writes of missing his wife and children very much, but of not being able to visit them. He also asks his daughter Ruth about her husband, Henry Thompson, becoming involved in Brown's "school," coded language for Brown's militant abolitionist dealings. He further speaks of recruiting his sons for his work and requests that the family write to him under the name "N. Hawkins: Care of Fred'k Douglas [sic] Esq'r Rochester N[.] Y." Douglass writes on the lower half of the verso page with his words oriented three different directions to fit the page. He speaks of his friendship with the Brown family and invites any of them to his home, where John Brown is staying, signing as "Fred. Douglass."

Topic: African American; Antislavery; Correspondence; Domestic life; Fatherhood; Government; Resistance; Slavery

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.26.3

Restrictions & Rights: Public Domain

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Documents and Published Materials; Slavery and Freedom Objects

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Identification button used by Thomas Porter II

Manufactured by: I. Nutting & Son, British, ca.1805 - 1840
Used by: Porter, Thomas II, British, 1790 - 1857

Medium: pewter
Dimensions: Diameter: 13/16 in. (2.1 cm), 3.9Grams

Type: buttons (fasteners); buttons (information artifacts)

Place collected: Georgia, United States, North and Central America
Place used: Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana, South America

Date: ca. 1820

Description: A round pewter button with "TPORTER" stamped across the middle. This button would have been sewn onto an enslaved person's shirt to identify him or her as belonging to Thomas Porter II. On the reverse side of the button there are fine concentric circle impressions within a pronounced rim as well as a stamp which is now illegible. There is also evidence of a parting line for a two-part mold on the reverse of the button. The button has considerable wear with pitting on both sides.

Topic: African American; Middle Passage

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.32.1

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects
Exhibition: Slavery and Freedom
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 3, C3 053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Identification button used by Thomas Porter II

Manufactured by: I. Nutting & Son, British, ca.1805 - 1840
Used by: Porter, Thomas II, British, 1790 - 1857

Medium: pewter
Dimensions: Diameter: 13/16 in. (2.1 cm), 3.2Grams

Type: buttons (fasteners); buttons (information artifacts)

Place collected: Georgia, United States, North and Central America
Place used: Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana, South America

Date: ca. 1820

Description: A round pewter button with "TPORTER" stamped across the middle. This button would have been sewn onto an enslaved person's shirt to identify him or her as belonging to Thomas Porter II. On the reverse side of the button there is a pronounced concavity which may have occurred after fabrication. The button has considerable wear with pitting on both sides.

Topic: African American; Middle Passage

Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture

Object number: 2009.32.2

Restrictions & Rights: No Known Copyright Restrictions

See more items in: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
Classification: Slavery and Freedom Objects
Exhibition: Slavery and Freedom
On View: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 3, C3 053

Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

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