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Sawnee [graphic] : The wonderful musical contraband known as the "Human Organ."
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Details
Title
Sawnee [graphic] : The wonderful musical contraband known as the "Human Organ."
Publisher
[United States]
Publisher
UNITED STATES. 1863
Date
[ca. 1863]
Physical Description
1 photograph : albumen on card mount ; mount 10 x 6 cm (4 x 2.5 in.) (carte de visite format)
Description
Full-length portrait of the formerly enslaved African American performer, attired in a Union uniform. He stands facing the viewer, holding his cap in his left hand and with his right hand tucked inside his sack coat. Found homeless in 1862 in Chambersburg, Pa. by promoter Robert Criswell, the "Human Organ" imitated the organ, any sound, and sang plantation songs during exhibitions in the North, including New York City and Philadelphia.
Notes
Article about Sawnee published in Franklin repository, January 27, 1864 (Chambersburg, Pa.), p. 5.
Accessioned 1982.
Description revised 2021.
Access points revised 2021.
Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Subject
Sawnee, approximately 1846- -- Portraits.
African American men -- United States.
African American entertainers -- United States.
Freedmen -- Pennsylvania.
Free men -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
Genre
Albumen prints -- 1860-1870.
Cartes de visite -- 1860-1870.
Portrait photographs -- 1860-1870.
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| cdv portraits - sitter - Sawnee [P.8925.2]
Accession number
P.8925.2
In Collections
African American History Photographs
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