Season 3, Episode 3: The Branded Hand

On this episode, learn more about abolitionist Jonathan Walker, known as the “Branded Hand”, because of a punishment he received for attempting to rescue 7 enslaved laborers in 1844. Hannah Elder, the Associate Reference Librarian for Rights and Reproductions at the MHS, and Katherine Fein, a PhD candidate in the Department of Art History & Archaeology at Columbia University, join us as we discuss how abolitionists harnessed the new technology of photography to showcase the brutality of the system of slavery.

Episode transcript

Click the images above to learn more about each item.

Episode Special Guests:

Katherine Fein is a PhD candidate in the Department of Art History & Archaeology at Columbia University. Her article about the daguerreotype of Jonathan Walker's branded hand was published in Oxford Art Journal.

Hannah Elder, Associate Reference Librarian for Rights and Reproductions, has been with the MHS since 2018. She holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of Maine and an MLIS from Simmons University. Her historical interests include the history of the book, queer history, and the lived experiences of ordinary women.

This episode uses materials from:

Belted Kingfisher by Chad Crouch (Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International)       
Psychic by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)       
Curious Nature by Dominic Giam of Ketsa Music (licensed under a commercial non-exclusive license by the Massachusetts Historical Society through Ketsa.uk)

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