- On View
- Segregation Gallery
- Museum Maps
- Objects in this Location
- Created by
- Unidentified
- Date
- 19th century
- Medium
- wood and metal
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 22 1/2 × 12 1/4 × 2 1/4 in. (57.2 × 31.1 × 5.7 cm)
- Description
- Handmade wooden washboard with metal scrubbing panel. The washboard is constructed with a main rectangular panel of carved wood with two turned legs on the bottom edge. The top section of this main panel is thinner than the middle section and the legs. The middle section of the main panel has nineteen (19) rows of metal bands pounded into it, though the bands do not puncture the back of the board. The bands are alternately spaced so that the center portion of each band is by the empty section between the bands of the rows above and below. The main panel has two thin side frames of wood nailed to it and a wider piece of wood nailed to the top side that serves as a handle.
- Place collected
- Smoaks, Colleton County, South Carolina, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Slavery and Freedom Objects
- Tools and Equipment
- Topic
- American South
- Domestic life
- Labor
- Slavery
- Women
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Object number
- 2008.10.11
- Restrictions & Rights
- No Known Copyright Restrictions
- Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




