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  • CC0 Creative Commons - No Rights Reserved icon

    Pass for free woman Harriet Lawson to visit her husband, Caleb

    Subject of
    Lawson, Harriet, American, born 1803
    Lawson, Caleb
    Date
    May 21, 1832
    Medium
    ink on writing paper
    Dimensions
    H x W: 5 × 7 15/16 in. (12.7 × 20.2 cm)
    Caption
    To Visit Your Husband: Harriet Lawson’s Pass, 1832
    Harriet Lawson carried this pass to visit her husband, Caleb, at work in a nearby town. As free blacks, the Lawsons could legally marry, but Maryland placed limits on their liberty. If they traveled without a pass, they could be fined $20 or sold into slavery.
    The Back of Lawson’s Pass
    If stopped, Lawson would face the humiliation of being physically inspected. This pass described her as: “Black, 29 yrs of age five feet high has a mole on the right side of her right eye no other perceptible mark.”
    Source: Nancy Bercaw, Curator, Slavery and Freedom
    Description
    A free woman's pass for a free African American woman, Harriet Lawson, to visit her husband Caleb Lawson, signed in Frederick County, Maryland, on May 21, 1832. Davis Richardson is listed as the witness. The pass is on a single sheet of paper. There is handwriting in ink on both recto and verso, handwriting in pencil on verso only. The proper right side has discoloration and abrasions with loss of paper along the edge but no apparent loss of text. The ink writing from the verso side is visible faintly through to the recto side. Creases remain from the pass having been folded twice, once lengthwise and once widthwise.
    Transcription Center Status
    Transcribed by digital volunteers
    Place made
    Frederick County, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
    Classification
    Slavery and Freedom Objects
    Documents and Published Materials-Business and Legal Documents
    Type
    legal documents
    manuscripts
    Topic
    American South
    Families
    Free communities of color
    Freedom
    Law
    U.S. History, 1815-1861
    Credit Line
    Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
    Object number
    2014.63.7
    Restrictions & Rights
    Public domain
    Usage
    CC0
    GUID
    http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5a1131ded-5d19-42a1-94f3-0ceba804c463
National Museum of African American History and Culture
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1400 Constitution Ave NW, Washington, DC 20560

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