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Images of the Antislavery Movement in Massachusetts

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Artifacts | Broadsides | Engravings and Prints | Manuscripts | Patriotic Covers | Photographs | Portraits | Sculpture

The Portraits of American Abolitionists collection consists of over 700 portraits in a wide range of formats depicting people involved with the fight for the abolition of slavery in the United States. The collection is fully digitized and available via the Massachusetts Historical Society's collection guides.

Explore the Portraits of American Abolitionists collection guide to view and learn more about these portraits.

Outside of Portraits of American Abolitionists, the Massachusetts Historical Society's other collections also include materials related to Antislavery in Massachusetts. Explore a selection of these items below.

Artifacts  

The Almighty has no Attribute..., Garrison antislavery banner
Cotton, paint, silk fringe by unknown, Boston, 1843
God Himself is with Us for our Captain..., Garrison antislavery banner
Cotton, paint by unknown, Boston, 1843
Great Is Truth! Great Is Liberty!..., Garrison antislavery banner
Cotton, paint, silk fringe by unknown, Boston, 1843
The Liberator commenced January 1st 1831, Garrison antislavery banner
Cotton, paint, silk fringe, 1843
Our Fanaticism! All Men Are Created Equal!..., Garrison antislavery banner
Cotton, paint, silk fringe, 1843
Our Trust for Victory is solely in God..., Garrison antislavery banner
Cotton, paint, silk fringe by unknown, Boston, 1843
Proclaim Liberty throughout all The Land..., Garrison antislavery banner
Cotton, paint, silk fringe by unknown, Boston, 1843
Shall a republic which could not bear the bonds of a King..., Garrison antislavery banner
Cotton, paint by unknown, Boston, 1843
This Is The Lord's Doing, Garrison's antislavery banner
Cotton, paint by unknown, Boston, 1843
Billy club
Wood, lead, circa 1845
Billy clubs
Wood, circa 1845
Am I Not A Woman And A Sister
Glass embossing seal by unidentified artist after Josiah Wedgwood, 19th century?
Iron yoke collar
Iron , 19th century
Am I Not A Woman And A Sister
Copper medal, 1838
Whip
Vellum , 19th century
Whip
Leather , 19th century

Broadsides and Tickets  

Anti-Slavery Meetings!
Broadside by the Worcester County South Division Anti-Slavery Society
Antislavery wafers
Wafers attributed to Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, circa 1850
Church Anti-Slavery Society, Second Anniversary, Tremont Temple ...
Broadside by the Church Anti-Slavery Society
Comparison of Products, Population, and Resources of the Free and Slave States
Broadside
The Cotton Kingdom
Broadside by Edward Atkinson
The Dorchester Anti-Slavery Society's Celebration. July 4th, 1835
Broadside
Envelope for antislavery wafers
Attributed to Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, circa 1850
First Anniversary of the Kidnapping of Thomas Sims, by the City of Boston
Broadside
For the Twenty-Fifth National Anti-Slavery Subscription Anniversary, at the Music Hall, Boston, Wednesday Evening, January 26, 1859
Broadside
Great Anti-Slavery Meetings!
Broadside
Great Massachusetts Petition
Broadside attributed to the Latimer Committee
Hymns, for the Rural Anti-Slavery Celebration, at Dedham, July 4, 1846
Broadside
Liberty's Song
Broadside
The Man is Not Bought! He is Still in the Slave Pen in the Court House!
Broadside
Murderers, Thieves and Blacklegs Employed by Marshal Freeman!
Broadside
<p>Off-white poster with bold, black text.</p> No Slavery! Fourth of July! The Managers of the Mass. Anti-Slavery Soc'y ...
Broadside
Order of Services at the First Anniversary of the Kidnapping of Thomas Sims, April 12, 1852
Broadside
Slave Market of America
Broadside issued by American Anti-Slavery Society
A Startling Fact!
Broadside
Stop Thief
Broadside
Ticket to the Anti-Slavery Bazaar in Boston, Massachusetts, 1855-1856
Ticket attributed to Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1855-1856
Ticket to the Anti-Slavery Refreshment Room, May 29-31, 1855
Ticket attributed to Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1855
Ticket to the 23rd Anti-Slavery Bazaar in Boston, Massachusetts, 1857
Ticket attributed to Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society, 1857
The Twenty-Fifth National Anti-Slavery Subscription Anniversary. You are cordially invited by the Ladies ...
Broadside
The Twenty-seventh Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society will be held in Boston, at Mercantile Hall, Summer Street, Thursday & Friday, ...
Broadside by the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society

Engravings and Prints  

African American female, chained and kneeling ...
Stipple engraving by Patrick Henry Reason, after an image by Josiah Wedgwood, 1835
George Latimer
Lithograph
The Innocent Cause of the War
Lithograph
James Armistead Lafayette
Stipple engraving by unidentified artist after the painting by John B. Martin, 19th century
"The Mill-boy of the Slashes!"
Lithograph, circa 1844
Scene on the Coast of Africa
Engraving by Charles E. Wagstaff after Francois August Biard

Manuscripts  

Diagram to show the drill the Anti-Man-Hunting League had for the running off of a slave or man-hunter
Ink on paper by Henry I. Bowditch, circa 1854-1859

Patriotic Covers  

Patriotic covers were a popular form of visual propaganda and became a collector’s item during the Civil War. Produced both in the North and South, these envelopes featured patriotic imagery and slogans, although some—primarily printed in the North—employed stereotypical and exaggerated images of the speech, dress, and physical characteristics of African Americans. Be advised that some of the following items contain racist descriptions and imagery.

"Bress de Lor, we am Contraban"
Patriotic cover
"By golly Massa Butler. I like dis better dan workin' in de field for ole Sesesh massa"
Patriotic cover
Come back here you black rascal. Can't come back nohow, massa; Dis chile's Contraban'
Patriotic cover
Confederate Bonds
Patriotic cover
Dinah and Pompey
Patriotic cover
Dis Chile's Contraban'
Patriotic cover
Dixie's Land
Patriotic cover
"Him fader's hope, Him moder's joy, Him darling little Contraband Boy"
Patriotic cover
"I wouldn't pull down dat flag, Massa George ..."
Patriotic cover
I'm glad I'm not in Dixie! Hooray! Hooray!
Patriotic cover engraved by Tyler
I'm Just from Dixie's Land
Patriotic cover
The Innocent Cause of the War
Patriotic cover
Jeff the Dictator as he is; as he should be Jeff the Dig-tater-er
Patriotic cover
John Bull's Sympathy
Patriotic cover
A King for the South
Patriotic cover
The Lock and Key
Patriotic cover
Map of the Seat of War
Patriotic cover
Massa can't have dis chile, dat's what's de matter: The latest contraband of war
Patriotic cover
Music by the "Contra-Band"
Patriotic cover
The "Peculiar" Institution
Patriotic cover
The "Peculiar Institution": Secession's Moving Foundation. Tendency due North -- via "Monroe"
Patriotic cover
The persuasive eloquence of the Sunny South
Patriotic cover
The Result of Secession
Patriotic cover
Secession
Patriotic cover
Southern Chivalry, Richmond, VA.
Patriotic cover
Dis Chile's Contraban'
Patriotic cover
Washwoman Davis
Patriotic cover
"We is de innocent root ob dis yere trubble, Mass' Jeff, but its gwine to take all us poor niggas' breff away to keep de wind in it"
Patriotic cover
"Whar's Jeff Davis?"
Patriotic cover
You had better get out dere, Massa Jeff, and go Norf, dey soon cool you or any oder man
Patriotic cover

Photographs  

<p>Sepia photograph of a street and the side of a tall, brick building with four arched windows and doors and a large iron lamp. To the left of the building, a Black woman with a shawl, hat, apron, and long-sleeved dress stands against a wall with her hands clasped together in front of her.</p> African Meeting House, Boston, Massachusetts
Photograph, circa 1892
The branded hand of Captain Jonathan Walker
Daguerreotype by Southworth & Hawes, 1845
Young Africa. Or the Bone of Contention.
Photograph

Portraits  

Governor John Albion Andrew
Portrait, oil on canvas by William Morris Hunt, 1867
George Livermore
Portrait, oil on canvas by James Carroll Beckwith, 1904
Louisa Gilman Loring (Mrs. Ellis Gray Loring)
Portrait, watercolor on paper by William Page, circa 1844 - 1849
Louisa Gilman Loring (Mrs. Ellis Gray Loring)
Portrait, oil on canvas by William Page, circa 1844 - 1849
Ellis Gray Loring
Portrait, charcoal and white chalk on paper by Eastman Johnson, circa 1848
Wendell Phillips
Portrait, oil on canvas by Charles V. Bond, 1849
Wendell Phillips
Portrait, oil on canvas by unidentified artist of the American school, [circa 1880]
Franklin Benjamin Sanborn
Portrait, pastel on paper by Cloyd L. Boykin, ca. 1915
Catherine Sargent
Miniature portrait, watercolor on ivory by Caroline Negus, 1838
Charles Sumner
Portrait, oil on canvas by Darius Cobb, 1877
Charles Sumner
Oil on canvas by unidentified artist, [187-]

Sculpture  

John Albion Andrew
Marble bust by Thomas Ridgeway Gould, 1864
William Lloyd Garrison
Marble bust by Anne Whitney, 1878
Samuel E. Sewall
Marble bust by Anne Whitney, 1884
Charles Sumner
Marble bust by Thomas Crawford, circa 1837-1839