© Copyright 2020 - The Library Company of Philadelphia, 1314 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. TEL (215) 546-3181 FAX (215) 546-5167
For inquiries, please contact our IT Department
- Title
- Fort Monroe envelope
- Description
- Image: A group of slaves run away from the master on the cotton plantation in the direction of Fort Monroe. The white master prepares to crack his whip while an African American, who faces him, thumbs his nose in defiance. Refers to the contraband policy that banned soldiers from returning runaway slaves to their owners once they crossed Union lines., Verse 420: Come back here, you black rascal., Caption: Can't come back no how, massa; Dis chile's CONTRABAN', Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1861-1865
- Title
- Fort Monroe envelope 2
- Description
- Image: A group of slaves run away from the white master on the plantation in the direction of Fort Monroe. The white master prepares to crack his whip while an African American, who faces him, thumbs his nose in defiance. Refers to the Benjamin Butler's contraband policy that banned soldiers from returning runaway slaves to their owners once they crossed Union lines., Verse 421: Come back you black rascal., Caption: Can't koershun de's colours; we's de "Butler Contrabans", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1861-1865
- Title
- Runaway mother and child envelope
- Description
- Image: An African American woman, with a bundle slung over her shoulder, runs behind a little boy. Secession is equated to runaway slaves., Verse 1840: Secession., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1861-1865
- Title
- Runaway given santuary envelope
- Description
- Image: A runaway grasps General Benjamin Butler for protection as his former owner approaches. Butler's sword is drawn and pointing at the slave owner, who is from one of the first families of Virginia. The slave owner is portrayed as a scarecrow holding a dog leash in one hand and a cat-o'-nine-tails in the other. Scene takes place in front of Fort Monroe. Refers to the contraband policy that banned soldiers from returning runaway slaves to their owners once they crossed Union lines., Verse 1568: One of the F.F.V.'s [First Families of Virginia] after his Contraband., General Butler "can't see it.", Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1861-1865
- Title
- Runaway family envelope
- Description
- Image: A slave family, consisting of father, mother and two children, run toward Fort Monroe, away from the white master who is chasing them with a whip and chains. Refers to the contraband policy that banned soldiers from returning runaway slaves to their owners once they crossed Union lines., Verse 422: Come back you black rascal, Oh no, I can't come back, I'se contraband., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector
- Date
- 1861-1865
- Title
- Osman
- Description
- Illustration accompanies the narrative, "The Dismal Swamp." A fugitive slave identified only as Osman sits amidst some tangled undergrowth. Holding his gun, he appears watchful. According to the text, a "tattered blanket" is wrapped about his shoulders, and he wears "little other clothing than a pair of ragged breeches an boots." His hair and beard are described as "tipped with gray." (p 453), Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 13, no. 76 (September 1856), p. 452., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Date
- [September 1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 13 n 76 September 1856 p 452, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2873
- Title
- Twenty-eight fugitives escaping from the eastern shore of Maryland
- Description
- Engraving depicts a group of twenty-eight fugitive slaves who successfully escaped in 1857., Illustration in William Still's Underground Rail Road: a record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c. (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872), p. 102., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Creator
- Osler, Wilbur, engraver
- Date
- [1872]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1872 Still 19214.O p 102, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2822
- Title
- Living in a cave
- Description
- Engraving shows Harry Grimes, a fugitive slave from North Carolina. During his 1857 escape, Grimes lived in the woods, taking shelter in a cave and a hollowed out poplar tree. Here, he builds a fire with some charcoal that he found., Illustration in William Still's Underground Rail Road: a record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c. (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872), p. 425., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Creator
- Bensell, Edmund Birckhead, b. 1842, engraver
- Date
- [1872]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1872 Still 19214.O p 425, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2825
- Title
- The runaway
- Description
- Full length, right profile view of a runaway slave dressed in a collared shirt and a buttoned jacket, and carrying a bundle on his back., Caption title vignette in the Anti-Slavery Record (New York: Published by R.G. Williams, for the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1835-1837), vol. III, no. VII (July, 1937), whole no. 31, p. 1., Small caption underneath the image reads: "This picture of a poor fugitive is from one of the stereotype cuts manufactured in this city for the southern market, and used on handbills offering rewards for runaway slaves.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Date
- [July 1837]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per A 245 16998.D v 3 n 7 cover page, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2860
- Title
- The way they "catch" men in Pennsylvania
- Description
- Two armed, uniformed authorities shoot at two escaped slaves in Cambria county, Pennsylvania., Illustration in the American Anti-Slavery Almanac, for 1838 (Boston: Published by D.K. Hitchcock, 1837), p. 25., Caption underneath the image reads: "These men having FELT the horrors of slavery, fled to Cambria county, Pa., in April, 1837. Being pursued, one of them said he would die before he would be taken. They were shot and wounded, and then were taken with great difficulty.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [1837]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1837 Ame Ant 52047.D.2 p 25, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2756
- Title
- [Aunt Judy's husband captured]
- Description
- Illustration accompanies the narrative, "Aunt Judy's Story: A Story from Real Life," by Matilda G. Thompson. According to the story, Aunt Judy's husband, John, was a Kentucky slave with a brutal master. Desperate to leave, and eager to regain contact with Judy, who lived on a different plantation, John managed to escape. He made it to the plantation of Judy's mistress, and hid there for more than a week before he was betrayed and captured by slave-hunters., Illustration in The child's anti-slavery book (Boston: American Tract Society, 28 Cornhill, Boston, 1859), p 104., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Date
- [1859]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1859 Chil 65676.D p 104, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2804
- Title
- A narrow escape
- Description
- Image depicts an event that occurred in Virginia in 1858. Having learned of his master's plan to sell him, Alfred, the slave shown in the foreground, runs away from a slave trader and a constable named William Noble, both of whom appear in the background., Illustration in William Still's Underground Rail Road: a record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c. (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872), p. 453., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Creator
- Foy, engraver
- Date
- [1872]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1872 Still 19214.O p 453, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2826
- Title
- The fugitives
- Description
- Engraving depicts an episode from Chapter XIV, "How the Flight Ended." Here, the fictional characters Maum Guinea, Rose, and Hyperion, fugitive slaves hiding in a cavern, are discovered by a party of whites that includes a colonel and a judge., Illustration in Metta Victoria Fuller Victor's Maum Guinea, and her plantation "children" (London: Beadle and Company,44 Paternoster Row; New York: Beadle and Company, 141 William Street, 1861), p. 206., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Creator
- N. Orr & Co., engraver
- Date
- [1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1861 Victo 70421.O p 206, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2807
- Title
- [K stands for kidnapper]
- Description
- Image is accompanied by a verse, which begins as follows: "K Stands for Kidnapper. Whoso receives / What others have stolen, is leagu'd with the thieves. /." In this night-time scene, a bearded kidnapper uses one knee to pin a fugitive slave to the ground in a face-down position. With a dagger between his teeth, the kidnapper leans over the slave, and bends his left arm behind his back. Handcuffs lie on the ground next to him., Illustration in Abel C. Thomas's Gospel of Slavery (New York: Published by T.W. Strong, 1864), n.p., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Date
- [1864]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1864 Thoma 50969.D vignette K, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2816
- Title
- [The freeman's defense]
- Description
- Engraving depicts an episode from chapter 17. Atop a rocky embankment, George and Phineas defend themselves, Eliza and Harry, and Jim Selden and his aged mother from an approaching group that includes Marks, Uncle Tom, and two constables., Illustration in the first German translation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (Oheim Tom's Hütte) printed in America (Boston: John P. Jewett and Company; Cleveland, Ohio: Jewett, Proctor, and Worthington, 1853), p. 79., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Creator
- Baker & Smith, engraver
- Date
- [1853]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1853 Stow 71311.O p 79, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2794
- Title
- The runaway
- Description
- In the center of the image, a black barber from Buffalo urges a white ferryman to launch the boat that will carry a runaway Georgia slave and his family across the Niagara River to Canada. Just as the boat leaves shore, the slave's master arrives on horseback. Brandishing a pistol, he attempts to prevent their passage., Caption title vignette in the Anti Slavery Record (New York: Published by R.G. Williams, for the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1835-1837), vol. II, no. IV [VI] (June, 1836), whole no. 18, p. 1., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Date
- [June 1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per A 245 60026.D v 2 n 6 cover page, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2851
- Title
- History of the slave, James
- Description
- Image is set in the Philadelphia-area household of a family of freed and escaped slaves. Having located the family, the slaves' owner, shown in the center, has come with two assistants to reclaim a slave named James, the man who is being forced out of the door in the background right. James's mother, an elderly freed slave named Harriet, battles with her former owner in the center of the scene. She bears the breast she once used to nurse him and begs for mercy. Harriett's husband and James's wife appear to the left, while James and Harriett's newborn baby sleeps in a cradle to the right., Caption title vignette in the Anti-Slavery Record (New York: Published by R.G. Williams, for the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1835-1837), vol. II, no. II (February, 1836), whole no. 14, p 1., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [February 1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per A 245 60026.D v 2 n 2 cover page, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2847
- Title
- What has the North to do with slavery?
- Description
- Image is set in the North. It appears to show Southern slaveowners forcibly removing escaped slaves from their homes, and returning them into their custody., Title page illustration in the American Anti-Slavery Almanac, for 1839 (New York: Published for the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1838)., Two captions underneath the image read: "What has the North do to with slavery?" and "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [1838]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1838 Ame Ant 16996.D.3 title page, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2768
- Title
- Extracts from recent correspondence in relation to fugitives from slavery in America
- Description
- Docket title. (Appears on bottom half of p. 4; reads perpendicular to text of p. 4.), Caption title: Fugitives from slavery., Introductory paragraph "Signed on behalf of the Committee of the Coloured Refugee Fund, Joseph Crosfield."
- Creator
- London Yearly Meeting (Society of Friends), Meeting for Sufferings, Committee of the Coloured Refugee Fund
- Date
- 1864
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare sm # Am 1864 Lond Yea Meet 7285.F
- Title
- [B stands for bloodhound]
- Description
- Image is accompanied by a verse, which begins as follows: "B Stands for Bloodhound. On merciless fangs / The slaveholder feels that his "property" hangs, /." With his arms extended over his head, an escaped slave falls to his knees. Behind him, a bloodhound bites at his shoulders and claws his thigh; two other dogs surround him., Illustration in Abel C. Thomas's Gospel of Slavery (New York: Published by T.W. Strong, 1864), n.p., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Date
- [1864]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1864 Thoma 50969.D vignette B, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2814
- Title
- [F stands for fugitives]
- Description
- Image is accompanied by a verse, which begins as follows: "F Stands for Fugitives hasting from wrath, / And furies are hot on their dangerous path. /." A group of four fugitive slaves, including a mother and child, hide in a thicket, hoping to avoid the bloodhounds who trail them. To the left, in the distant background, an American flag waves., Illustration in Abel C. Thomas's Gospel of Slavery (New York: Published by T.W. Strong, 1864), n.p., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Date
- [1864]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1864 Thoma 50969.D vignette F, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2815
- Title
- A typical negro
- Description
- Three engravings accompanying the article "A Typical Negro." The text identifies them as "portraits" of Gordon, a fugitive Mississippi slave who joined the Union army in Baton Rouge. According to the unnamed author, the engravings were taken from photographs by McPherson and Oliver. The engraving on the left bears the title "Gordon as he entered our lines." It shows Gordon sitting on a stool with his hands folded on his lap and one leg crossed over the other. His clothing is frayed and tattered, and he wears no shoes. As the author explains, Gordon "entered our lines, with clothes torn and covered with mud and dirt from his long race through the swamps and bayous, chased as he had been for days and nights by his master with several neighbors and a pack of blood-hounds; . . . ." The middle engraving is titled "Gordon under medical inspection." Here, Gordon is seated on a stool with his bare back facing the viewer. The image offers a detailed view of the wounds and scars that cover his back. As the author commented, the engraving "shows him as he underwent the surgical examinations previous to being mustered into the service -- his back furrowed and scarred with the traces of a whipping administered on Christmas day." The portrait on the right is titled "Gordon in his uniform as a U.S. soldier." It shows Gordon in full military uniform, with all of his gear and his musket. This engraving, the author notes, "represents him in United States uniform, bearing the musket and prepared for duty.", Illustration in Harper's Weekly, vol. 7, no. 340 (July 4, 1863), p 429., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Date
- [July 1863]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare **Per H 1529.F v 7 n 340 July 4 1863 p 429, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2877
- Title
- The successful manhunt
- Description
- Engraving portrays an episode described in Hildreth's fictional narrative. With blood- hounds in tow and "armed to the teeth," a party of mounted slave-hunters proceeds with two captured fugitives: the young man marching in front around whose neck a rope has been tied, and the older man, identified in the narrative as Wild Tom, who rides on horseback and whose arms are tied behind his back. In the center of the image, the lifeless body of Snapdragon, a Yankee overseer, is draped over a horse. He was killed by Wild Tom during the course of the man hunt., Plate in Richard Hildreth's Archy Moore, the White Slave; or Memoirs of a Fugitive (New York and Auburn: Miller, Orton & Mulligan, 1855), p. 290., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Creator
- Baker & Smith
- Date
- [1855]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1855 Hildr 72210.O p 290, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2801
- Title
- Eliza crosses the Ohio on the floating ice
- Description
- Engraving illustrates an episode from Chapter 7, "The Mother's Struggle." With her young son, Harry, in her arms, Eliza crosses the frozen Ohio River in search of freedom. In the background at the left, the slave-trader from whom she has fled stands on the river's edge. Next to him, two slaves lift their hands in a gesture of rejoicing., Illustration in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (London: John Cassell, Ludgate Hill, 1852), p. 16., Caption underneath the image reads: "The huge green fragment of ice on which she alighted pitched and creaked as her weight came on it, but she staid there not a moment. With wild cries and desperate energy she leaped to another and still another cake; -- stumbling -- leaping -- slipping -- springing upwards again! Her shoes are gone -- her stockings cut from her feet -- while blood marked every step." --Page 51., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Creator
- Green, W. T., fl. 1837-1872, engraver
- Date
- [1852]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1852 Sto 72726.O p 16., https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2788
- Title
- Desperate conflict in a barn
- Description
- Engraving depicts an incident that is said to have occurred in a barn in Terrytown, Maryland in 1853. In search of freedom, four Virginia slaves, Robert Jackson, Craven Matterson, and the latter's two brothers escaped and travelled north. In Maryland, they were discovered by a man who saw them hiding in a thicket. According to the accompanying narrative, the man, who "talked like a Quaker," urged them to go to his barn for protection. The man, however, betrayed them, and a group of authorities arrived soon thereafter. A struggle ensued, during the course of which Jackson and Craven were shot, as well as the man who betrayed them., Illustration in William Still's Underground Rail Road: a record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c. (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872), p. 50., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Date
- [1872]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1872 Still 19214.O p 50, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2821
- Title
- The mother's struggle
- Description
- Illustration shows the fictional character, Eliza, and her young son, Harry, as they flee from slavery in search of freedom. As Stowe wrote, "The frosty ground creaked beneath her feet, and she trembled at the sound; every quaking leaf and fluttering shadow sent the blood backward to her heart, and quickened her footsteps." (p. 74), Illustration in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (Boston: John P. Jewett and Company; Cleveland, Ohio: Jewett, Proctor, and Worthington, 1853), p. 73., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Creator
- Baker & Smith, engraver
- Date
- [1853]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1853 Stowe 12939.O p 73, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2795
- Title
- Scipio hunted, "As men hunt a deer!"
- Description
- Equipped with dogs and rifles, a party of men surround Scipio, an escaped slave, who lies wounded on the ground. St. Clare intervenes, claiming Scipio as his prisoner in order to prevent the men from shooting him., Illustration in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin (London: John Cassell, Ludgate Hill, 1852), p. 176., Caption underneath the image reads, "He fought the dogs right gallantly, and actually killed three of them with only his naked fists . . . . It was all I could do to keep the party from shooting him." --Page 200., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Creator
- Jackson, Mason, 1819-1903, engraver
- Date
- [1852]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1852 Sto 72726.O p 176, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2790
- Title
- Shooting scene
- Description
- Engraving shows a slave being hunted by three men with dogs and guns., Illustration in Lydia Childs's the Oasis (Boston: Benjamin C. Bacon: Tuttle and Weeks, printers, No. 8, School Street, 1834), p. 265., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Creator
- Croome, William, 1790-1860, engraver
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 Chi 70173.D.5 p 265, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2738
- Title
- Scenes in the city prison of New York
- Description
- This scene is set in front of Bridewell prison in New York. The black man shown here is a Virginia slave who escaped to New York. Before being arrested as a fugitive, the man found employment and a loving wife, the woman who kneels in front of him. In this scene, the man is being released from prison into the custody of his owner, who plans to take him back to Virigina., Caption title vignette in the Anti-Slavery Record (New York: Published by R.G. Williams, for the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1835-1837), vol. I, no. 7, p. 73., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [July 1835]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per A 245 16998.D v 1 n 7 cover page, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2857
- Title
- John Bull's monarchy a refuge from Brother Jonathan's slavery
- Description
- Image criticizes a resolution adopted in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 10, 1828, which called for the President to initiate an agreement with the British Government whereby fugitive slaves taking refuge in Canada would be surrended to their masters, given proof of ownership., Illustration in the American Anti-Slavery Almanac, for 1839 (New York: Published for the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1838), p. 9., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [1838]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1838 Ame Ant 16996.D.3 p 9, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2761
- Title
- [Thomas Cooper]
- Description
- Image depicts Thomas Cooper, a Maryland slave who escaped to Philadelphia, where he settled, found work, married, and raised a family. In this scene, Cooper's former owner, having learned of his whereabouts, has seized and handcuffed him, and is taking him back to Maryland. His wife and children beg for his release in vain. According to the accompanying text, Cooper's Philadelphia employers had offered to pay the slaveowner a large sum in return for his release, but their offer was refused., Illustration in the American Anti-Slavery Almanac, for 1838 (Boston: Published by D.K. Hitchcock, 1837), p. 19., Caption underneath the image reads: "Consider the desolation which would be brought upon YOUR family, if the head of it should be taken away. The slaves suffer, in such cases, FAR MORE than we, for they have few pleasures except those they derive from their companions in wo [sic].", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [1837]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1837 Ame Ant 52047.D.2 p 19, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2753
- Title
- [Thomas Cooper]
- Description
- Image depicts Thomas Cooper, a Maryland slave who escaped to Philadelphia, where he settled, found work, married, and raised a family. In this scene, Cooper's former owner, having learned of his whereabouts, has seized and handcuffed him, and is taking him back to Maryland. His wife and children beg for his release in vain. According to the accompanying text, Cooper's Philadelphia employers had offered to pay the slaveowner a large sum in return for his release, but their offer was refused., Cover of the American Anti-Slavery Reporter, vol. 1, no. 3 (March, 1834), p. 33., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Creator
- Brown, G. L., engraver
- Date
- [March 1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per A 247 75432.O v 1 n 3 front cover, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2861
- Title
- A bold stroke for freedom
- Description
- Engraving depicts an incident that is said to have occurred near the Maryland state line on December 25, 1855. As the accompanying narrative suggests, six slaves from Virginia's Loudoun and Fauquier counties (Barnaby Grigby, his wife, Mary Elizabeth Grigby, Frank Wanzer, Emily Foster, and two others) had taken their master's horses and carriage, and were on their way to freedom. Near the Cheat River in Maryland, they were attacked by "six white men and a boy," who demanded their passes, and then ordered their surrender. The fugitives retaliated, and the four travelling in the carriage made a successful escape. Two others on horseback were assumed to have been captured., Illustration in William Still's Underground Rail Road: a record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c. (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872), p. 124., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Creator
- Reed, C. H., engraver
- Date
- [1872]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1872 Still 19214.O p 124, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2823
- Title
- The Christiana tragedy
- Description
- Depicts an incident that is said to have occurred in Christiana in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania in September 1851. A party of slave-hunters, emboldened by the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, attempted to capture a number of black men as fugitive slaves. The slave-hunters tried to enter the home of a suspected fugitive, but they were denied access and shots were fired. In response, a group of approximately thirty to fifty blacks congregated to defend themselves and their neighbor. Fierce fighting ensued, and lives were lost., Illustration in William Still's Underground Rail Road: a record of facts, authentic narratives, letters, &c. (Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1872), p. 350., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Date
- [1872]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1872 Still 19214.O p 350, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2824
- Title
- Running away
- Description
- Illustration accompanies part five, "Domestic Amusements in the Slave States." Trailed by a pack of bloodhounds and several mounted authorities armed with rifles, a slave family tries to make their escape. To the right, on the bank of a river, two authorities aim their rifles at a drowning slave, who is approached by a group of white men in a boat., Illustration in the Suppressed Book about Slavery! (New York: Carleton, 1864), p. 336., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Creator
- Van Ingen & Snyder, engraver
- Date
- [1864]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1864 Suppr 15191.D p 336, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2813
- Title
- The bloodhound business
- Description
- Illustration accompanies part five, "Domestic Amusements in the Slave States." It shows a family of runaway slaves as they try to defend themselves from a pack of bloodhounds. Behind them, two slavehunters aim their rifes at father, mother, and child., Illustration in the Suppressed Book about Slavery! (New York: Carleton, 1864), p. 288., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Creator
- Van Ingen & Snyder, engraver
- Date
- [1864]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1864 Suppr 15191.D p 288, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2812
- Title
- The runaway slaves, Anthony Burns and Thomas Sims
- Description
- Set in Boston, the image shows the consequences of the Fugitive Slave Law in the North. Despite public hostility to slave-hunting, Livermore explained that escaped slaves such as Burns and Sims were "returned at noon-day, military authority being called out to prevent the interference of the people, who were determined on their rescue.", Illustration in Mary Ashton Rice Livermore's The Story of my Life, or, The Sunshine and Shadow of Seventy Years (Hartford: A.D. Worthington & Co., 1897), p. 450., Caption underneath image reads: "With pinioned arms and manacled feet they marched between files of soldiers to a steamer bound for South Carolina from whence they had fled. Vast throngs of men and women watched the procession, many weeping as they gazed.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Creator
- Garrett, Edmund Henry, 1853-1929, designer
- Date
- [1897]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1897 Liv 29518.O p 450, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2841
- Title
- The fugitive slave law in operation
- Description
- Illustration accompanies Poore's critical commentary on the consequences of the Fugitive Slave Law, and the manner in which fugitive slaves in northern states were returned to the South. Here, two armed authorities forcibly remove a black man from his home while a kneeling black child appears to beg for mercy., Illustration in Benjamin Perley Poore's Perley's Reminiscences of Sixty Years in the National Metropolis (Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers, c1886), p. 454., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Creator
- Bobbett, Albert, ca. 1824-1888 or 9, engraver
- Date
- [c1886]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1886 Poore 24984.O v 1 p 454, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2835
- Title
- The fugitive's song
- Description
- Backed by a large tree, a fugitive slave representing Frederick Douglass runs away from a river-bank, and heads in the direction of New England (as evidenced by the sign in the background right). The party in pursuit of him, two mounted figures and a pack of dogs, can be seen on the other side of the river in the distant background. The fugitive slave (Douglass) wears unsoiled white pants, a neat striped shirt, and no shoes; he carries a bundle on a stick., Sheet music cover for J. Hutchinson (lyrics) and J.M. White's (music), The Fugitive's Song (Boston: Published by Henry Prentiss, 33 Court St., 1845)., Dedication underneath the image reads: "Words / composed and respectfully dedicated, in token of confidential esteem to / Frederick Douglass / a Graduate from the / "Peculiar Institution" / For his fearless advocacy, signal ability and wonderful success in behalf of / his brothers in bonds. / (and to the fugitives from slavery in the ) / Free States & Canadas. / by their friend / Jesse Hutchinson Junr.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Fugitives.
- Creator
- Bouvé, Ephraim W., 1817-1897, designer
- Date
- [1845]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Sheet Music Fugitive 8214.F, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2891
- Title
- [Punishments for deserters]
- Description
- Two scenes show methods for punishing runaway slaves. As the caption suggests, the top image shows the way in which Portuguese colonizers punished captured fugitives: here, a slave-owner whips a slave who hangs by his neck from a tree limb. A form of punishment invented in Martinique is shown at the bottom left: a standing slave is forced to wear a collar around his neck and a shackle around his right ankle. The two are connected by a short chain that forces the slave to bend his right leg backward and support all of his weight on his left leg. Lastly, the bottom right illustrates one slave's punishment for having escaped: his leg was amputated above the knee., Plate in François Froger's Relation d'un voyage fait en 1695, 1696 & 1697: aux côtes d'Afrique, détroit de Magellan, Brezil, Cayenne & isles Antilles, par une escadre des vaisseaux du roy, commandée par M. de Gennes (A Paris: Imprimée par les soins & aux frais du sieur de Fer, geographe de Monseigneur le dauphin. Dans l'isle du Palais, sur le quay de l'Horloge, à la Sphere royale: Et chez G. Saugrain dans la grande salle du Palais, à la Croix d'or., M.DC.XCVIII. [1698]), p. 150., Caption accompanying the top scene reads: "Comme les Portugais fouettent leurs Esclaves lors quils ont deserté." The caption on the bottom left reads: "Invention d'un François de la Martinique;" the one on the right reads: "Esclave qui a la Jambe coupee pour avoir deserte.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Creator
- Inselin, C., engraver
- Date
- [1698]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1698 Froge 578.D p 150, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2663
- Title
- The mode of training blood hounds in St. Domingo and of exercising them by Chasseurs
- Description
- Featuring a model of a black man and a Spanish Chasseur in typical dress, the engraving helps shows how Spanish colonizers in St. Domingo trained blood-hounds to track and kill runaway slaves. As Rainsford explained, "With respect to the dogs their general mode of rearing was latterly in the following manner. From the time of their being taken from the dam, they were confined in a sort of kennel, or cage, where they were but sparingly fed upon small quantities of the blood of different animals. As they approached maturity, their keepers procured a figure roughly formed as a negro in wicker work, in the body of which were contained the blood and entails of beasts. This was exhibited before an upper part of the cage, and the food occasionally exposed as a temptation, which attracted the attention of the dogs to it as a source of the food they wanted. This was repeated often, so that the animals with rodoubled ferocity struggled against their confinement while in proportion to their impatience the figure was brought nearer, though yet out of their reach, and their food decreased, till at the last extremity of desperation, the keeper resigned the figure, well charged with the nauseous food before described, to their wishes. While they gorged themselves with the dreadful met, he and his colleagues caressed and encouraged them. By these means the whites ingratiated themselves so much with the animals, as to produce an effect directly opposite to that perceivable in them towards the black figure; . . . ." (p. 426-27)., Plate in Marcus Rainsford's Historical Account of the Black Empire of Hayti: comprehending a view of the principal transactions in the revolution of Saint Domingo; with its antient and modern state (London: Albion press printed: published by James Cundee, Ivy-Lane, Paternoster-Row; and sold by C. Chapple, Pall Mall, 1805), p. 422., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Creator
- Barlow, J., engraver
- Date
- 1805
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1805 Rains 1416.Q p 422, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2708
- Title
- Happy contraband
- Description
- Photographic reproduction of a caricature depicting a half-length, cameo portrait of an African American man playing a fife. Shows the man, posed to the right, looking up with his eyes, and holding up with both his hands, a fife to his pursed lips. He leans slightly forward, is portrayed with a furrowed brow, and is attired in a wide-brimmed hat adorned with a ribbon, white shirt with long sleeves, and a dark-colored vest. While commander of Fort Monroe, Virginia, General Benjamin Butler declared freedom seekers as "contraband of war," providing the impetus for Congress to enact the Confiscation Act of 1861. During the war, several visual materials, often satires, depicting Black persons as "contraband" were published., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date inferred from active dates of publisher., RVCDC, Philadelphia Photographic Company operated from 730 Chestnut Street circa 1864-1865 before relocating to 24 N. 8th Street. Active until about circa 1869, the firm, per advertisements, issued a catalog, sold "specialties" for albums, including "from original drawings by artists of high quality," and published "[Thomas H.] Johnson's Photographic Views of the Whole Oil Regions," as well as sold election campaign cards and badges.
- Creator
- Philadelphia Photographic Company
- Date
- [ca. 1865]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv - non-portrait -Philadelphia Photographic Company - Happy [P.2022.50]
- Title
- [Sampson, a West Indian slave]
- Description
- According to St. Clair, the engraving features the slave Sampson, who was referred to as such on the basis of his enormous strength. Sampson was owned by a Dutchman whose plantation was near the Essequibo River in Guyana. After Sampson's second escape and capture, his master sentenced him to a severe flogging, and then took steps to deter future escape attempts. As St. Clair explained, Sampson "had an iron collar fastened round his throat, which had three legs sticking out from it, having, as represented in the sketch, hooks at their ends, which render it impossible for any human being to escape through the thick underwood in this country. In addition to this, his left leg was chained to an enormous heavy log of wood, which, when he walked, was thrown over his left shoulder. In this state, he was obliged daily to perform as much work as any other Negro on the estate.", Illustration in Thomas St. Clair's A Residence in the West Indies and America (London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, publisher in ordinary to His Majesty, 1834), vol. 2, p. 214., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Punishment Scenes.
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 St. Cla 8958.O v 2 p 214, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2739
- Title
- Ellen Craft, the fugitive slave
- 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., 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.
- Creator
- J. Andrews & S. A. Schoff, engraver
- Date
- [ca. 1850-ca. 1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - C [P.2014.61]
- Title
- [Headquarters Lafayette - Headquarters Gen'l Porter. Farinholt's house and York River in the distance.]
- Description
- View from the Civil War showing the headquarters of General Lafayette and General Porter near Yorktown, Virginia during General McClellan's Campaign on the Peninsula. Depicts white Union soldiers, and African American men and a boy, probably freedom seekers, posed before Farinholt's dilapidated house supported by a large log. Several camp tents and the York River are seen in the background., Title from cdv photograph, Brady's Album Gallery, no. 370., Photographer given in Gardner catalogue (see LCP research file)., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1862, by Gardner & Gibson, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Columbia., During the Civil War, the U.S. government declared African American freedom seekers as "contraband of war.", Alexander Gardner was a respected photographer, businessman, and former manager of Mathew Brady's Washington, D.C. Gallery who produced the acclaimed "Photographic sketchbook of the Civil War.", Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of Civil War views. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., 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., James F. Gibson was a prominent Civil War photographer and one-time manager of Mathew Brady's Washington, D.C. gallery who also provided images for photographer Alexander Gardner's "Catalogue of photographic incidences of the war..." and "Photographic sketchbook of the Civil War."
- Creator
- Gibson, James F., 1828-, photographer
- Date
- 1862
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Small Civil War Photograph Collection - stereos - identified photo. [5779.F.6h]
- Title
- [Benjamin F. Butler]
- Description
- Reproduction of a bust-length portrait print of the Massachusetts Governor, abolitionist legislator, and Civil War Major General. Butler, attired in uniform, sits facing slightly left. As commander of Fort Monroe, Virginia, he declared freedom seekers as "contraband of war," providing the impetus for Congress to enact the Confiscation Act of 1861., Title supplied by cataloger., Date based on depicted age of the sitter., Accessioned 1979., 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.
- Date
- [ca. 1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits- sitter - Butler [P.2282.107]
- Title
- Official first day of issue. Honoring Harriet Tubman, 1821-1913. Abolitionist. Nurse. Escapded slave. Black Heritage USA Series
- Description
- ArtCraft "First Day Cover" (i.e., designed envelope with a stamp affixed and cancelled on the day the stamp was issued) containing vignette illustrations depicting Harriet Tubman. Shows a half-length portrait of Harriet Tubman and a view of Tubman with Black persons of all ages, their belongings, and horse-drawn carts on a snow-covered clearing., Title from item., Date supplied from research and content., Logo of printer printed in lower left corner: Text "ArtCraft" set on a paint palette with brushes inserted through the hole for the artist's thumb., Image caption: She Guided More Than 300 Slaves to Freedom., Contains ink-stamp postmark: Washington. DC. Feb 1 1978 20013 and cancelled "First Day of Issue" Black Heritage USA color-printed 15-cent stamp after the design of Jerry Pinkney and depicting a portrait of Harriet Tubman and an inset of a view of Tubman and three Black persons riding a donkey-drawn wagon. The Tubman stamp issued in 1978, was the first issued for the Black Heritage Series begun in 1978 by the U.S. Postal Service to recognize "the contribution of Black Americans to the growth and development of the United States.", Mailing label removed., The Washington Press ArtCraft brand was introduced in 1939 for the printing of First Day Covers. The firm stopped producing ArtCraft First Day Covers in 2016., Gift of George R. Allen, 2022.
- Date
- [1978]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department ephemera - envelopes - Poor [P.2019.80.6]
- Title
- Cinque The chief of the Amistad captives
- Description
- Bust portrait of the enslaved leader after a painting by New Haven, Connecticut artist, Nathaniel Jocelyn, engraved by Philadelphia artist and Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society member, John Sartain, to raise funds for the enslaved ship mutineers' defense before the Supreme Court. Sartain reproduced the painting, commissioned in 1841 by Philadelphia African American abolitionist and Amistad Committee defense fund member, Robert Purvis, following the refusal of the Artist Fund Society to display the original at the society's 1841 exhibit. Depicts the West African, attired in a toga, walking cane in hand, slightly facing left, in front of a background of African landscape., Title from printed signature of sitter below image., Date inferred from content., Printed on recto: fac simile of the original autograph., Original painting in the collections of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, New Haven, CT., LCP exhibition catalogue: Negro history, p. 34., LCP exhibition catalogue: Made in America, #61., See Ann Katherine Martinez's The Life and career of John Sartain (1808-1897): A nineteenth century Philadelphia printmaker (Ph.D dissertation, The George Washington University, 1986), p. 75-78., See Hugh Honour's The Image of the Black in western Art (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989), part 2, vol. IV, p. 159-161., See Katherine Martinez's and Page Talbott's, eds. The Sartain family legacy (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), p. 66-67., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings. McAllister collection, gift, 1886., 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.
- Creator
- Sartain, John, 1808-1897, engraver
- Date
- [ca. 1841]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Portrait prints-C [5306.F.35]
- Title
- Cinque The chief of the Amistad captives
- Description
- Bust portrait of the enslaved leader after a painting by New Haven, Connecticut artist, Nathaniel Jocelyn, engraved by Philadelphia artist and Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society member, John Sartain, to raise funds for the enslaved ship mutineers' defense before the Supreme Court. Sartain reproduced the painting, commissioned in 1841 by Philadelphia African American abolitionist and Amistad Committee defense fund member, Robert Purvis, following the refusal of the Artist Fund Society to display the original at the society's 1841 exhibit. Depicts the West African, attired in a toga, walking cane in hand, slightly facing left, in front of a background of African landscape., Title from printed signature of sitter below image., Date inferred from content., Printed on recto: fac simile of the original autograph., Original painting in the collections of the New Haven Colony Historical Society, New Haven, CT., LCP exhibition catalogue: Negro history, p. 34., LCP exhibition catalogue: Made in America, #61., See Ann Katherine Martinez's The Life and career of John Sartain (1808-1897): A nineteenth century Philadelphia printmaker (Ph.D dissertation, The George Washington University, 1986), p. 75-78., See Hugh Honour's The Image of the Black in western Art (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989), part 2, vol. IV, p. 159-161., See Katherine Martinez's and Page Talbott's, eds. The Sartain family legacy (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000), p. 66-67., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings. McAllister collection, gift, 1886., 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.
- Creator
- Sartain, John, 1808-1897, engraver
- Date
- [ca. 1841]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Portrait prints-C [5306.F.35]
- Title
- Brady's Album Gallery
- Description
- Incomplete series of the "Brady Album Gallery" of Civil War views first published in 1862 by New York publishers, E. & H.T. Anthony. Contains camp scenes, views of historic residences and military fortifications, and group portraits predominately photographed by unattributed Brady technicians, James F. Gibson and George N. Barnard. Gibson and Barnard hold copyright to twenty-six of the series. Contains series No. 1, 100, 100 (variant), 289, 302 - photographed by Barnard; No. 355, 360-361, 363-372, 377-380, 382-384, 388 - photographed by Gibson; No. 423-424, 427 - copyrighted and probably photographed by Brady., Views include: the incomplete Capitol in Washington, D.C.; General McClellan's 1862 campaign on the Virginia Peninsula including Union artillery batteries near Yorktown and Union headquarters of Generals McClellan, Scott, and Lafayette; and the inflation and ascent of the Union reconnaissance air balloon, "Intrepid." Group portraits depict African American Civil War freedom seekers, Union officers, and Union soldiers., Copyrighted by Barnard & Gibson and Mathew Brady., Stamp of Philadelphia distributor, McAllister and Brother, 728 Chestnut Street, pasted on verso of two of the series., Names of the photographers supplied by "Catalogue of photographic incidents of the war from the gallery of Alexander Gardner (Washington: H. Polkinhorn, 1863)." (Transcription in LCP research file)., Gift of Jesse G. Haydock, 1981., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Forms part of Small Civil War Photograph Collection., 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
- 1862
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department small Civil War photo collection - Brady cdv's [P.9877.1-29]