Original & selected poetry &c. [graphic] / Martina Dickerson.
Title
Original & selected poetry &c
Description
Album belonging to Martina Dickerson, a young middle-class African American Philadelphian, probably created as a pedagogical exercise, with twenty-two contributions dating from 1840 until around 1846. Contains original and transcribed poems, prose, and essays on topics including love, friendship, sympathy, courage, and female refinement. Also includes drawings, primarily of flowers. Identified contributors are mainly Black elite scholars active in the African American anti-slavery and cultural community of mid-19th century Philadelphia., Contains the following contributions: calligraphed title page by abolitionist James Forten, Jr.; prose on "Literature," "The Album," and "The Year" by entrepeneur and abolitionist James Forten, Sr. or his son, James, Jr.; prose entitled "Perserverance" by tailor, abolitionist, and civil rights activist John C. Bowers; prose, sketches, and watercolors by Quaker abolitionist, educator, and artist, Sarah Mapps Douglass; watercolor and transcribed poem, "The First Steamboat on the Missouri," by Sarah's brother, artist, community activist, and abolitionist, Robert Douglass; essay entitled "Sympathy" by William Douglass, pastor and historian of the St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Philadelphia; transcription from Wordsworth's "Excursion" by educator and anti-slavery activist Charles L. Reason; gouache of a bunch of flowers by A.H.H., probably Ada Howell Hinton, an African American educator and anti-slavery activist; and prose, poems, and gouache by Mary M. MacFarland, V.E. Macarty, Y.J. Grice, Rebecca F. Peterson, H.D. Shorter, C.D.R., and J.F.V., Title from item., Inclusive range of dates inferred from entries inscribed with dates., Embossed and gilt morocco binding., Lithograph title page, "Flowers," containing flower illustration hand-colored with gouache and watercolor., Blank album published in London by Wm. & Hy. Rock., Lib. Company. Annual Report 1993, p. 17-25., Research file available at repository., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Dickerson, a pupil of African American educator Sarah Mapps Douglass, was the daughter of African American activists, Martin and Adelia Dickerson, and step-father Samuel Van Brackle.
Creator
Dickerson, Martina, 1829-1905
Date
[ca. 1840-ca. 1846]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Martina Dickerson album [13859.Q]
The first steamboat on the Missouri.
Title
The first steamboat on the Missouri
Description
Album page with pre-printed lithographic border containing a drawing and unattributed poem about the first steamboat on the Missouri from the 1838 edition of "The Token and Atlantic Souvenir." Drawing is after Joseph Andrew's engraving of the work by painter John Gadsby Chapman. Depicts two Native American men on a rock, one seated, and portrayed with a forlorn expression, and the other standing with their arms raised in an anguished pose, watching a steamboat in the distance. Poem, "The Indian's Farewell to the Missouri, on seeing the First Steamboat on its Waters," addresses the power of the white man and the steamboat as a harbinger of his usurpation of Native American territories., Title from album page., Date from album page., LCP exhibit catalogue: African American Miscellany p. 45., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Douglass, an African American artist and early photographer, was an active member of the Philadelphia anti-slavery and civil rights movement.
Creator
Douglass, Robert M. J., 1809-1887, artist
Date
September 25, 1841
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Martina Dickerson album [13859.Q.70]
[Vase of flowers]
Title
[Vase of flowers]
Description
Album page with embossed border and containing a drawing of a vase of flowers. Shows an arrangement of flowers including roses, camellias, pansies and forget-me-nots, in an urn-shaped vase. Border is composed of a leaf design., Title supplied by cataloguer., Date from album page., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Douglass, was an artist, prominent Quaker member of the Philadelphia African American elite community, educator, and anti-slavery activist.
Creator
Douglass, S. M. (Sarah Mapps), 1806-1882, artist
Date
1843
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Martina Dickerson album [13859.Q.78]
Forget me not
Title
Forget me not
Description
Album page with an embossed border and containing a drawing of forget-me-nots. Shows a sprig of red and blue flowers, and red and blue buds, as well as green leaves. Border is composed of ornament details., Title from album page., Date inferred from complementary entries in album., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Douglass, was an artist, prominent Quaker member of the Philadelphia African American elite community, educator, and anti-slavery activist.
Creator
Douglass, S. M. (Sarah Mapps), 1806-1882, artist
Date
[ca. 1843]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Martina Dickerson album [13859.Q.83]
[Hibiscus]
Title
[Honeysuckle]
Description
Depicts a stem of honeysuckle., Title supplied by cataloger., Name of artist from manuscript note on verso., Gift of William Woys Weaver, 1995., 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., Douglass, an artist and prominent Quaker member of the Philadelphia African American elite, was best known as an educator and community activist.
Creator
Douglass, S. M. (Sarah Mapps), 1806-1882, artist
Date
[ca. 1845]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Drawings & Watercolors-Douglass [P.9493]
London Coffee House
Title
London Coffee House
Description
Wash study for engraving by Mumford's brother, Thomas Mumford, appearing in several editions of John F. Watson's "Annals of Philadelphia,...with engravings by T.H. Mumford" published by various publishers between 1844 to 1870. Depicts an exterior view of the coffee house and merchants' exchange at the southwest corner of Front and Market streets in colonial Philadelphia. An auction of enslaved people occurs outside the coffee house and pedestrians traverse the sidewalks. Partial view of the adjacent printing house of "Pennsylvania Journal" publisher, William Bradford, is visible. Erected in 1702 and established as a coffee house in 1754 by Bradford, the site was a public center for social and economic activities during the late 18th century, including auctions of enslaved people. The building was razed in 1883., Title from manuscript note on recto., Manuscript note on recto: Original., 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 the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator
Mumford, Edward William, 1812-1858, artist
Date
[ca. 1844]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Drawings & Watercolors-Mumford [P.8757.18]