| Creator |
J. Andrews & S. A. Schoff, engraver. |
| Contributor |
Hale, L. H., 1823-1885, photographer. |
| Title |
Ellen Craft, the fugitive slave. [graphic] / Hale's Dagotype.; J. Andrews & S. A. Schoff, sc. |
| Publisher |
[Boston] : [publisher not identified] |
| Publisher |
MASS. Boston. 1850-1861 |
| Date |
[ca. 1850-ca. 1861] |
| Physical Description |
1 print : engraving ; sheet 24 x 16 cm (9.25 x 6.25 in.) |
| Description |
Half-length portrait taken circa 1849-50 of Craft attired in the persona of Mr. William Johnson, a young, infirm enslaver.
Shows the light-complexioned, multiracial Craft with one arm in a sling and wearing short hair, spectacles, a top hat, a jacket,
a shirt, and a cravat. Craft and her husband William escaped slavery in Macon, GA in December 1848 by posing as a planter
and his dedicated man servant. The couple arrived in Philadelphia on Christmas Day, relocating to Boston, and later London.
Craft wore a sling to conceal her inability to write, as well as a poultice tied to her chin and around her head to further
disguise her gender. The chin poultice was "left off in the engraving, because the likeness could not have been taken well
with it on" (Craft, 35). Before publication as the frontispiece to the Craft's memoir, the portrait was separately issued
and advertised by English abolitionists.
|
| Notes |
Title from item. |
|
Published in Running a thousand miles for freedom; or the escape of William and Ellen Craft from slavery (London: Wm. Tweedie,
1861), frontispiece [Am 1861 Craft, 71339.D].
|
|
Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund. |
|
Hale and Schoff worked within blocks of the office of the abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator" in Boston. Additionally,
Hale, Schoff, and Andrews were all members of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association.
|
|
Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2014, p. 37. |
|
Description revised 2021. |
|
Access points revised 2021. |
| Subject |
Craft, Ellen -- Portraits. |
|
African American women -- Portraits. |
|
Cross dressing. |
|
Fugitive slaves. |
|
Racially mixed people. |
|
Freedom seekers -- United States. |
| Genre |
Engravings -- 1850-1870. |
|
Portrait prints -- 1850-1870. |
| Location |
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| portrait prints - C [P.2014.61] |
| Accession number |
P.2014.61 |
