Wednesday, September 30, 2015

A Large Group of African American Slaves Posing Outside of Their Quarters on a Plantation Near Charleston, South Carolina (1860)


A large group of African American slaves posing outside of their quarters on a plantation near Charleston, South Carolina, c. 1860. A rare scene from perhaps the only series of photographs to document slavery in the United States. By Osborn and Durbec. Animated stereoview.

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Sunday, September 27, 2015

A Group Posing in Front of a Building Containing the Offices of Numerous Oil Companies in Rouseville, Pennsylvania (1870's)


A group posing in front of a building containing the offices of numerous oil companies in Rouseville, Pennsylvania, c. 1870′s.

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Daguerreotype Portrait of a Man Named Benjamin Moore


Daguerreotype portrait of a man named Benjamin Moore, c. 1850.

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Hand-Colored Photograph Said to be Taken During the Last Public Slave Auction on Cheapside Street in Lexington, Kentucky (1860's)


Hand-colored photograph said to be taken during the last public slave auction on Cheapside Street in Lexington, Kentucky, c. 1860's. The auction looks as though it is possibly in progress with the figures who are standing over the crowd possibly being the slaves for sale and the crowd in front of them (nearer to the photographer) being the interested buyers. The slave auctions took place on the grounds of the Fayette County Courthouse which is visible at left.

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Portrait of Three Women and One Man Playing an Unidentified Game


Portrait of three women and one man playing an unidentified game. E. T. Brigham. Animated stereoview.

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Thursday, September 24, 2015

Two Photographs Taken Before and During the Burning Death of an African American Man Named Robert Henson Hilliard by a Lynch Mob in Tyler, Texas (1897)

"In the hands of the mob." Source.

"First fire withdrawn." Source.

Two photographs taken before and during the burning death of an African American man named Robert Henson Hilliard by a lynch mob in Tyler, Texas, 1897. Hilliard had been accused of of raping and murdering a white woman. Both photographs taken by C.A. Davis.

The following is a description of the event published in Thirty Years of Lynching in the United States, 1889-1918:

"Robert Henson Hilliard, a Negro, for a murder to which he confessed and for alleged rape, was burned to death by a mob in Tyler, Texas, Hilliard confessed the murder but stated that he killed his victim because he had unwittingly frightened her and feared that he would be killed.

A report of the crime and its punishment was written by an eye-witness and printed by a local publishing house. It ended as follows:

'Note: Hilliard's power of endurance was the most wonderful thing on record. His lower limbs burned off before he became unconscious and his body looked to be burned to a hollow. Was it decreed by an avenging God as well as an avenging people that his sufferings should be prolonged beyond the ordinary endurance of mortals?'

'We have sixteen large views under powerful magnifying lenses now on exhibition. These views are true to life and show the Negro's attack, the scuffle, the murder, the body as found, etc. With eight views of the trial and burning. For place of exhibit see street bills. Don't fail to see this. Breckinridge-Scruggs Co.'

No indictments were found against any of the mob's members."

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Hand-Colored Ambrotype Portrait of Union Soldier Seneca Flint Who Served With the 2nd Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry During the Civil War


Hand-colored ambrotype portrait of Union soldier Seneca Flint who served with the 2nd Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Cavalry during the Civil War. He died of disease in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on October 25, 1864.

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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Sunday, September 6, 2015

Friday, September 4, 2015

Union Civil War Veteran and Kansas Pacific Railway Company Employee Charles B. Lamborn Posing With Two Friends Along the Banks of the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri (1867)


Union Civil War veteran and Kansas Pacific Railway Company employee Charles B. Lamborn (center) posing with two friends along the banks of the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri, 1867. By Alexander Gardner.

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Animated Time-Lapse Portrait of Confederate General Joe Wheeler (1860's)


Animated time-lapse portrait of Confederate General Joe Wheeler, c. 1860's. Attributed to Mathew Brady.

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A Group Posing in Front of a Drover's Cottage at MacCoy's Stock Yard in Abilene, Kansas (1867)


A group posing in front of a drover's cottage at MacCoy's Stock Yard in Abilene, Kansas, 1867. By Alexander Gardner.

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American Artillerymen and Infantrymen Posing at Fort Harker in Kanopolis, Kansas (1867)


American artillerymen and infantrymen posing at Fort Harker in Kanopolis, Kansas, 1867. By Alexander Gardner.

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