- On View
- Segregation Gallery
- Museum Maps
- Objects in this Location
- Manufactured by
- Unidentified
- Used by
- Claflin University, American, founded 1869
- Date
- 1870-1900
- Medium
- paint, cast iron
- Dimensions
- H x W x D: 6 7/8 × 6 1/2 × 2 1/8 in. (17.5 × 16.5 × 5.4 cm)
- Description
- A hand-operated embossing machine used by Claflin University. The exterior is painted black, with paint chipping away throughout surface. The embosser stands flat on a beveled base that is curved on two opposing sides, each containing a hole through the base at the end. The mechanism has a long, rounded lever, with a silver plated top on the end, hinged at the body of the embosser on the opposite side, with a spring element underneath, and is used to push the cylinder element into whatever material will be embossed. Below the cylindrical element, there is a two-tiered base, the bottom being circular with relief type (illegible) on the top, the other sitting on the top curved with straight ends in an oblong shape. There is a slit for the material being embossed to slide into between the pedestal and the cylinder. The main body of embosser has a relief 5-point star, painted red, with gold lines coming off of it, on both sides.
- Place used
- Orangeburg, South Carolina, United States, North and Central America
- Classification
- Tools and Equipment
- Type
- tools
- Topic
- American South
- Business
- Education
- HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
- Methodist
- Reconstruction, U.S. History, 1865-1877
- Segregation
- U.S. History, 1865-1921
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Claflin University
- Object number
- 2016.24
- Restrictions & Rights
- No Known Copyright Restrictions
- Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




