Scenes from Uncle Tom's Cabin. No. 1
Title
Perilous escape of Eliza and child
Description
Print of a scene from Stowe's popular, anti-slavery novel, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," originally published in 1851. Depicts the character Eliza, an African American woman freedom seeker, escaping from Kentucky to Ohio across the icy Ohio River. Eliza, depicted barefoot and with a light skin tone, clutches her son Harry to her breast and straddles two blocks of ice as she looks behind her at the irate white man enslaver on the shore near the tavern from which she has fled., Title from item., Purchase 1997., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Stong was a prolific New York mid 19th-century lithographer, wood engraver, and publisher who mainly published stock prints.
Creator
Strong, Thomas W., lithographer
Date
[ca. 1853]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Fictional Characters [P.9524.2]
Journey of a slave from plantation to the battlefield. [graphic].
Title
Journey of a slave from plantation to the battlefield
Description
Collection of twelve titled album (carte-de-visite size) cards depicting the evolution of the life of an African American man from enslavement to a Union soldier. "In the Cotton field" and "The Christmas Week" show his life on the plantation from which he is sold and separated from his family in "The Sale" and "The Parting: 'Buy us too'." His new enslaver whips him in "The Lash," for which he then retaliates in "Blow for Blow." He hides "In the Swamp" and is finally "Free!" to become a Union soldier and "Stand up a Man" to fight in the battlefield to "Make Way for Liberty!" He is struck down in "Victory!" for Liberty, depicted as a white woman, who states as she mourns over his body, "He Died for Me!", Title from series title., Publication information inferred from copyright statement: Entered according to the act of the year 1863 by William A. Stephens in the Clerks' Office of the Dist. Court of the U.S. for the E. Dist. of Pa., Attributed to James Fuller Queen after Henry Louis Stephens., Henry Louis Stephens was a native Philadelphia caricaturist, book, and magazine illustrator who worked in New York in the mid-19th century for the periodical "Frank Leslie's." His brother William Allen Stephens served as his business manager., Described in Gathering history: The Marian S. Carson Collection of Americana. (Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1999), p. 26., Original wrapper for the card set held in the collections of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. [LOT 5174], Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of humorous caricatures and photographs. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Copyright by William A. Stephens, 1120 Girard Avenue, Philadelphia., Description revised 2023., Access points revised 2023., Queen, a Philadelphia lithographer and pioneer chromolithographer known for his attention to detail, served in the Civil War militia from 1862 until 1863, and created several lithographs with Civil War subjects.
Creator
Queen, James Fuller, 1820 or 21-1886, artist
Date
1863
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Henry Louis Stephens Collection [(5)5780.F.56m-p; (5)5780.F.57a-h]
The Washington family.
Title
The Washington family
Description
Group portrait of George Washington, his wife Martha, and his two step-grandchildren gathered around a cloth-covered table. A seated George Washington, attired in civilian clothing, rests one arm on the table and the other on the shoulder of his step-grandson and namesake who stands next to a globe, which shows "America." His step-granddaughter, Nelly, stands next to a seated Martha on the other side of the table. Both are pointing at "North America, United States" on a large map unfurled on the table. William Lee, an African American man enslaved by Washington who worked as his valet including during the Revolutionary War, stands in the right background. He is attired in a white cravat and a black jacket and tucks his left hand into his jacket. A curtain is draped open near a column revealing a waterscape scene in the background., Title from item., Names of sitters printed in margin below image., Purchased with Davida T. Deutsch Women's History Fund, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator
Currier & Ives
Date
1873
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Washington [P.2013.23]
Washington birthday greetings [graphic].
Title
Washington birthday greetings
Description
Postcard containing an interpretation of Christian Schussele's 1864 painting "Washington and his Family" that was also issued as an engraving. Shows a domestic family group portrait with George and Martha Washington seated at a table, near which their step grand-children Nelly and William stand. A map rests on the table, and Washington holds a book in his lap. In the background, William Lee, an African American man enslaved by Washington who worked as his valet including during the Revolutionary War, enters the room holding a note on a tray. In the right foreground, Washington's overcoat and sword rest on a chair., Date inferred from postmark: Mass., Dec. 1910., Addressed in manuscript to: Mr. Ralph Osgood, Oak St., Springfield, Mass., Inscribed in lower left corner on verso: Cores. from Ethel., Contains cancelled one-cent stamp printed in green ink and depicting Benjamin Franklin in profile., Divided back., Gift of John Serembus, 2013., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date
[ca. 1910]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department LCP postcards - Non-Pennsylvania [P.2013.66]
Emancipation
Title
Emancipation Freedom for all, both black and white!
Description
Print depicting the Emancipation Proclamation for both African Americans and whites including equal opportunity to education. Depicts Lincoln raising his right hand and holding the "Emancipation Proclamation" in his left hand in the center between a poor white family and an enslaved African American family. Both families, attired in torn and worn clothing, stand and kneel as they hold their clasped hands up toward Lincoln, who treads upon broke shackles and a serpent. A "Spelling Book" lies on the ground near them. In the background, Union soldiers stop a white man enslaver from whipping a shackled and enslaved African American woman and children enter "Public School, No. 1." From the roof of the school waves a flag inscribed "Education to all Classes." Contains text from the Proclamation above the image, "and by virtue of the power and for the purpose of the aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves, within designated States and parts of States are, and henceforward shall be free!", Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to the act of Congress A.D. 1865 by J.L. Magee in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania., Magee, a lithographer, painter, and cartoonist, established his own firm in Philadelphia in 1850., LCP exhibition catalogue: Negro History, p. 77., Accessioned 1999., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date
1865
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Emancipation [P.9702]