black history

Glass cup in the shape of a negro head

Glass objects, Roman Empire. Public domain photograph of archaeological object, Roman Empire, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

[Black slaves working in sugar mill. Hispaniola. Part 5, plate 2]

Illus. in: De Bay, Americae...1590. Reference copy may be in E141.B88. Reference copy may be in SSF (Gr) - Plantation crops Sugar, LOT 4410A. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card.

Excise inquisition erecting by English slaves under the scourge of the...

A British satire on an attempt by William Pitt and George Rose to transfer to excise law certain import duties; standing in opposition is Edward Thurlow. The central image shows Britannia, wrapped in a blanket ... More

Black slave carries a leopard pelt and holds the bridle of a horse, fr...

Public domain image of horse riding, cavalry, military, 18th century, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description.

A ship disembarking to left, two galley slaves stand and one sits next...

Public domain photo of Italian sculpture, 16th-17th century, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description.

The election, a medley, humbly inscribed to Squire Lilliput, professor...

Cartoon shows the old courthouse in Philadelphia during the October 1, 1764 election where a line of men wait at the steps on the right to enter the courthouse and cast their votes; in the foreground, many men,... More

Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley of Boston

Public domain photograph of portrait art print, 18th century, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley of Boston

Anonymous, 18th century Public domain scan of 18th-century print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

The abolition of the slave trade Or the inhumanity of dealers in human...

Print shows sailor on a slave ship suspending an African girl by her ankle from a rope over a pulley. Captain John Kimber stands on the left with a whip in his hand. Attributed to I. Cruikshank in BM CPPS. Cat... More

Printers' picture gallery. The following device is made up entirely of...

Anti-slavery.; Title. Available also through the Library of Congress web site in two forms: as facsimile page images and as full text in SGML. Printed Ephemera Collection; Portfolio 133, Folder 29.

[Iron mask, collar, leg shackles and spurs used to restrict slaves]

Illus. in: The penitential tyrant / Thomas Branagan. New-York: Printed by Samuel Wood, no. 362, Pearl-street, 1807. Reference copy in: LOT 4422-A-3.

Gate & slave market at Pernambuco / drawn by Augs. Earle ; engraved by...

Includes view of Count Maurice's gate near slave market. Illus. in: Journal of a voyage to Brazil, and residence there, during part of the years 1821, 1822, 1823 / Maria Graham. London : Longman, Hurst, Rees, O... More

Le collier de fer, châtiment des fugitifs ; Nègres en commission, par ...

Illustrations showing black fugitives wearing iron collars as punishment, two blacks wearing rain garments, and two slaves carrying tiles on their heads. Illus. in: Voyage pittoresque et historique au Brésil, d... More

Family amalgamation among the men-stealers

African American children serving food to a white family. Illus. in: Picture of slavery in the United States of America / George Bourne. Middletown, Conn. : E. Hunt, 1834, p. 91. Reference copy in: LOT 4422-A-2.

Boutique de la rue du Val-Longo / J.B. Debret, delt. ; lith. de Thierr...

Illustration showing interior of slave market. Public domain scan of lithograph illustration, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Esclaves nègres, de différentes nations / J.B. Debret, delt. ; lith. d...

Illustration showing faces of black women slaves from various tribes reflecting different styles of dress and adornment. Illus. in: Voyage pittoresque et historique au Brésil, depuis 1816 jusqu'en 1831 ... / pa... More

Marchand de tabac ; L'aveugle chanteur ; Marchande de pandelos / J.B. ...

Illustrations showing men in chains (possibly fugitives or slaves) outside a tobacco shop; blind street singer; woman vendor selling food to men. Illus. in: Voyage pittoresque et historique au Brésil, depuis 18... More

Abduhl Rahhahman / H. Inman, Esqr, N.A., del. ; T. Illman, sculp.

Portrait of a West African prince known as Ibrahima, Prince of Slaves, and Abdu-l-Rahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori. He was captured as a war prisoner and became a slave in the United States for 40 years. He was freed in... More

Ladies whipping girls. Book illustration from Library of Congress

A white woman whipping a slave girl. Illus. in: Picture of slavery in the United States of America / George Bourne. Middletown, Conn. : E. Hunt, 1834, p. 109. Reference copy in: LOT 4422-A-3.

The battle at Bunker's Hill near Boston. June 17, 1775 / John Trumbull...

Print shows British and American soldiers in hand-to-hand combat during the Battle of Bunker Hill; among the soldiers depicted are Major General Joseph Warren, Captain Thomas Gardner, Major Andrew McClary, Colo... More

Cash! All persons that have slaves to dispose of, will do well by givi...

Slaves- Sale. Available also through the Library of Congress web site in two forms: as facsimile page images and as full text in SGML. Printed Ephemera Collection; Portfolio 186, Folder 27.

Portraits of Hannibal and Cyprian, with vignettes illustrating African...

An abolitionist print, asserting the nobility of the African peoples and deploring their inhumane treatment under the slave trade. There are two vignettes: "Treatment of the Africans" (top) showing African nati... More

[The battle of Bunker's Hill, June 17th 1775] / [painted by J. Trumbul...

Print shows British and American soldiers in hand-to-hand combat during the Battle of Bunker Hill; among the soldiers depicted are Major General Joseph Warren, Captain Thomas Gardner, Major Andrew McClary, Colo... More

Colored individuals along the road side

Drawing shows an African American slave woman leaning against a split rail fence along with three children. She says, "Oh I so glad you come, 'massa says he wish you were in da bottom of the sea--but you ain't ... More

Common mode of whipping with the paddle

Man whipping slave as two other men and a child watch. Illus. in: Trial and imprisonment of Jonathan Walker, at Pensacola, Florida, for aiding slaves to escape from bondage. Boston : Pub. at the Anti-slavery of... More

Philanthropic Consolations, after the loss of the Slave-Bill

William Wilberforce and Samuel Horsley, Bishop of Rochester, cavort with two black women in a well-furnished room. Wilberforce and a woman, wearing a print dress with her breasts exposed, sit on a couch smoking... More

Abu Nabut and Negro Slaves in Cairo

Public domain image of Egyptian art, free to use, no copyright restrictions photo - Picryl description

State of Louisiana wood engraving, Library of Congress

Print shows the title page to "Ballou's Pictorial" for "Saturday, December 22, 1855" showing, at top, a view of Boston Harbor with sailing ships, steamboats, a rowboat, and a view of the city of Boston in the b... More

Slave of Richard Townsend / W.H. Ingram's Photograph and Ferrotype Gal...

Photo shows an elderly African American man, three-quarter length portrait, wearing coat and top hat, seated, facing front, with right hand resting on the handle of a bow saw that he holds between his legs. In... More

Come one! Come all!. 19th century, Library of Congress collection

Advertising sale of slaves by James L. Coleman, Augusta, Ga., 26 Dec. 1856.

View of chained African slaves in cargo hold of slave ship, measuring ...

Public domain scan of portrait art print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

[Stirrup Branch Plantation, Bishopville, S.C., on the 75th birthday of...

Reference copy in LOT 11334. Exhibited: "Only Skin Deep" at the International Center of Photography, New York City, N.Y., 2003-2004.

Runaway reward poster, Washington DC

November 16, 1858

Picking cotton on a Georgia plantation

Negro slaves. Illus. in: Ballou's Pictorial, v. 14, 1858, p. 49. Ref. copy may be in P&P - A Pictorial History of Blackamericans - E185.H83 1973, p. 16. This record contains unverified data from caption card. C... More

Street and Negro quarters, Retreat Plantation, Port Royal Island, S.C....

Stereograph shows African Americans, possibly slaves, standing alongside dirt road lined with wooden houses.

Map showing the distribution of slaves in the Southern States /

Includes statistical figures, insets showing cotton district and British Isles. Available also through the Library of Congress Web site as a raster image. CW3 Acquisitions control no. 96-8 Vault

Slave quarters of Jefferson Davis plantation

Photograph shows the slave quarters on Brierfield, the Jefferson Davis plantation. Title from inscription on item. Gladstone's inventory code and notes: CDV60. "Sent home by Elizabeth Findley Missionary to the ... More

A slave father sold away from his family

African-American slave leaving his family. Illus. in: The Child's Anti-Slavery Book..., New York, [1860], frontispiece. Ref. copy may be in SSF - NEGRO SLAVERY AUCTIONS AND TRADE 1860. This record contains unve... More

Cotton field, Retreat Plantation, Port Royal Island, S.C. / Photograph...

Stereograph shows African Americans, possibly slaves, working in a cotton field.

Rather die freemen than live to be slaves - 3rd United States Colored ...

Regimental flag depicting African American soldier and Columbia holding an American flag between them. On verso: D.B. Bowser - Artist - No. 481 North 4th St. Philada. Photograph of painting by Bowser. In album:... More

Emancipation. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid...

Public domain image related to President Abraham Lincoln, gelatin silver print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

[Civil War envelope showing fugitive slaves working as sappers and min...

Addressed to Miss Nancy Corss, East Smithfield, Pa.; bears 3 cent stamp. Gift; Tom Liljenquist; 2012; (DLC/PP-2012:127). pp/liljmem

[Sergeant A.M. Chandler of the 44th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Co....

Photograph shows identified Confederate soldier, A.M. Chandler, and identified slave, Silas Chandler, who accompanied two Chandler brothers during their military service in the Civil War. For more information, ... More

Gwine to de field, Hopkinson's Plantation, Edisto Island, S.C.

Photograph shows slaves on the Hopkinson plantation, with two boys in a cart pulled by a donkey.

Slave pen, Alexandria, Virginia / negative by William R. Pywell ; posi...

Photograph showing exterior view of Price, Birch & Co., dealers in slaves. Address: 1315 Duke St., Alexandria, Virginia. Illus. in: Gardner's photographic sketch book of the war / Alexander Gardner. Washington... More

Mansion of the rebel Genl. Thomas F. Drayton, Hilton Head, S.C.

Photograph showing African American slave women and Union soldiers outside Drayton's house. Purchase; William A. Gladstone; 1995; (DLC/PP-1995:113.272). Gladstone's note: M22.

Sweet potato planting, Hopkinson's Plantation

Photograph shows slaves working in the sweet potato fields on the Hopkinson plantation. Title inscribed in ink on front of the mount. Date from similar photograph on mount at the New York Public Library. Capti... More

Nursery at Elliot's Plantation, Hilton Head, S.C.

Photograph shows slaves sitting in from of a building described at the "nursery". Gladstone's inventory code and notes: M22. Edge loss on the upper right corner of the mount. Title is inscribed in ink on the f... More

Negro slaves 1862 Edisto Island, S.C. (plantation of James Hopkinson)

Photo shows a group of African American slaves posed around a horse-drawn cart, with a building in the background, at the Cassina Point plantation of James Hopkinson on Edisto Island, South Carolina. Inscribed... More

Mansion of James Hopkinson, Edisto Island, S.C.

Photograph shows slaves standing in fenced yard and a side view of the Hopkinson house. Title inscribed in ink on front of mount. Gladstone's inventory code and notes: M22; plantation workers in front of mansio... More

Live oak and palmetto tree, Elliot's Hilton Head, S.C.

Photograph shows two trees and a few men near a cabin or slave quarters, Elliot Plantation. Title is inscribed in ink on the front of the mount. Gladstone's inventory code and notes: M22. Purchase; William A. G... More

Slaves of the rebel Genl. Thomas F. Drayton, Hilton Head, S.C.

Photograph showing a group portrait of African American men and women on a plantation. Date from Gladstone collection checklist. Purchase; William A. Gladstone; 1995; (DLC/PP-1995:113.265) No. "42" inscribed o... More

[Large group of slaves(?) standing in front of buildings on Smith's Pl...

Civil War Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). Public domain photograph - United States during American Civil War, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

The war in South Carolina - view of the fortifications erected at Hilt...

Illustrations show (top) laborers constructing a Union fort and (bottom) African Americans, mostly women, performing tasks such as doing laundry in a camp for escaped slaves at Hilton Head Island, South Carolin... More

William A. Jackson, ex-coachman of Jeff Davis

Image shows William A. Jackson, Union spy and former slave and coachman of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing front. On print: "Yours truly Wm. A Jackson." Forms part o... More

Century plant 85 years old, Seabrook's Plantation

Photograph shows two slaves working near a Century (Agave) plant near the waterfront, Seabrook's Plantation, with soldiers sitting on the dock in the background. Title inscribed in ink on the front of the moun... More

Drayton's negro quarters, Hilton Head, S.C.

Photograph shows soldiers and slaves in front of the slave quarters on Drayton's plantation. Gladstone's inventory code and notes: M22. Purchase; William A. Gladstone; 1995; (DLC/PP-1995:113.271).

Seabrook's negro quarters. 19th century, Library of Congress collectio...

Photograph shows an aerial view of the slave quarters at Seabrook's Plantation.

Plantation view at Port Royal Island, S.C.

Plantation slave quarters, Port Royal Island, S.C. Civil War Photograph Collection (Library of Congress). Original glass negative is: LC-B811-211

Alexandria, Virginia. Slave pen. (Price, Birch & Company dealers in sl...

Address: 1315 Duke Street, Alexandria, Virginia. Public domain photograph of 19th-century stereoscopic card, Virginia, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Learning is Wealth—Wilson, Charley, Rebecca, and Rosa, Slaves from New...

Picryl description: Public domain vintage artistic photograph, free to use, no copyright restrictions image.

[2nd South Carolina Infantry Regiment raid on rice plantation, Combahe...

Top illustration shows slaves escaping to a Union ship as buildings burn in the distance. Three bottom illustrations show an escaped slave in tattered clothing upon his crossing of Union lines, welts from being... More

Port Royal Island - 1. Camp Saxton (Smith's plantation) - the new head...

Illustrations show (top) military camp for 1st South Carolina Infantry Regiment, Union regiment of former slaves, and escaped slaves entering the town of Mitchelville; (middle) batteries; and (bottom) iron clad... More

Learning is Wealth—Wilson, Charley, Rebecca, and Rosa, Slaves from New...

Public domain reproduction of portrait print, 19th century, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description.

Arrival at Chickasaw bayou of the Negro slaves of Jefferson Davis, fro...

Title and other information transcribed from caption card. Illus. in: Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, vol. 16 or 17 (1863 Aug. 8), p. 320.

Contrabands coming into camp in consequence of the proclamation / draw...

Illustration shows former slaves sitting in and around a wagon drawn by a mule. Illus. in: Harper's weekly, v. 7 (1863 Jan. 31), p. 68. Reference copy in LOT 4422.

Gordon as he entered our lines. Gordon under medical inspection. Gordo...

Gordon, a runaway slave from Mississippi, in tattered clothes; bare back showing scars; and in Union Civil War uniform. From photographs by McPherson & Oliver. Illus. in: Harper's weekly, 1863 July 4, p. 429, bottom.

Stephen's varieties No. 3: The slave in 1863

Envelope for collectors cards showing Afro-American soldier holding bayoneted rifle. Copyright by William A. Stephens.

The Christmas week - Drawing. Public domain image.

Card showing African Americans at Christmas party. No. 2, no. 58. Copyright by William A. Stephens. From: Album varieties no. 3; The slave in 1863. Philadelphia, 1863.

Emancipated Slaves Brought from Louisiana by Colonel George H. Banks

Public domain photograph of American trade card, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Platforms illustrated, Confederate States of America.

The August 1864 Democratic national convention in Chicago is unfavorably compared to the Republican convention in Baltimore in June of the same year. The artist is especially critical of prominent New York Peac... More

The day of Jubelo / E. B. Bensell, pinxt ; photo. and pub. by Phil. Ph...

Photograph shows African Americans (freed slaves?) celebrating in a plantation house, includes couples dancing and children playing. The photograph reproduces a work by the artist Edward Bensell. Entered accor... More

Emancipation. And by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid...

Freedom's immortal triumph! Finale of the Jeff Davis Die-nasty." Las...

A vindictive Northern fantasy on the aftermath of the Civil War. Confederate president Jefferson Davis, dressed in a hoopskirt or crinoline, hangs from a "Sour Apple Tree" at left, a Bowie knife in one hand and... More

A proper family re-union, Confederate States of America.

A biting cartoon showing Confederate president Jefferson Davis in league with both the devil and Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold. Arnold and Davis stir a cauldron of "Treason Toddy," a brew into whic... More

A poster with a man and a woman facing each other. Racial segregation ...

A poster for campaign / A poster for the two platforms - public domain stock photo.

The end of the rebellion in the United States, 1865 / C. Kimmel.

A sequel to Kimmel's grand image "The Outbreak of the Rebellion in the United States" (no. 1865-19), issued the year before. The artist depicts in symbolic terms the downfall of the Confederacy. Columbia, crown... More

The new era / V.F. wood engraving, Library of Congress

A former slave owner, General Wade Hampton, wearing oversized spurs, a hat with a ragged peacock feather stuck in the band, and a cat-o'-nine-tails sticking out of a pocket, speaking to a former slave identifie... More

The First cotton-gin / drawn by William L. Sheppard.

African American slaves using cotton gin. Illus. in: Harper's weekly, 1869 Dec. 18, p. 813.

Desperate conflict in a barn. 19th century, Library of Congress collec...

Gun fight between slaves and slave-catchers; capture of Robert Jackson in 1853 near Harper's Ferry. Illus. in: Still, Underground Railroad, 1872. cf. Dumond, Antislavery, p. 311 (E441.D84 P&P). This record cont... More

A bold stroke for freedom. 19th century, Library of Congress collectio...

African-Americans with wagon pointing guns at slave-catchers. Illus. in: William Still, The Underground Railroad (1872) p. 125. Ref. copy may be in P&P Ref. - E185.H83 1963 (p. 130). This record contains unveri... More

Whitaker family / photographed by J.A. Palmer, Aiken, S.C.

Photo shows a large African American family of mostly women and children, gathered around the porch of a log and clapboard cabin, with wood shingle roof and stone chimney, and a large cauldron in the foreground... More

A slave-coffle passing the Capitol

Slaves wearing handcuffs and shackles passing the United States Capitol, around 1815. Illus. in: A popular history of the United States. New York : Scribner, Armstrong, and company, 1876-1881. Reference copy in... More

Virginia one hunderd years ago. 19th century, Library of Congress coll...

Well-dressed plantation owner and family visiting the slave quarters. Illus. in: Harper's Weekly, 1876 August 193, p. 677 (from microfilm). Reference copy may be in LOT 4422A. This record contains unverified, o... More

The African slave-trade - slaves taken from a dhow captured by H.M.S. ...

Print shows African men, women and many children. In the background, two British sailors. Illustrated in The Graphic. London, June 7, 1884, p. 548

John A. Logan in 1859 / Gillam.

Illustration shows John A. Logan standing at center, holding a paper that states "No Interference with Slave-Hunters!", and looking over his left shoulder at two slave hunters rounding up a family of fugitive s... More

A great past and a pitiful present / Gillam.

Illustration shows Whitelaw Reid, John Sherman, George F. Hoar, and John Logan lifting Uncle Sam above a swamp filled with several faces of corruption labeled "Blainism, Robesonism, Mahone Repudiation, Land Gra... More

Florida-- ruins of the slave cabins--Ft. George Id. / George Barker, p...

Stereograph shows ruins of slave quarters, possibly on the grounds of Kingsley Plantation, Fort George Island. 15450 U.S. Copyright Office. Series: Gems of American Scenery. Copyright 1886 by George Barker.

Florida-- ruins of the slave cabins--Ft. George Id. / George Barker, p...

Stereograph showing slave cabins, possibly at Kingsley Plantation, Fort George Island. 15478 U.S. Copyright Office. "3rd view" written in ink on mount. Series: Gems of American Scenery. Copyright 1886 by George Barker.

The queen of industry, or the new south / Th. Nast.

Cover illustration shows a man labeled "King Cotton" leaning against a bale of cotton and stomping on the back of a slave in 1861, textile mills spewing smoke as African Americans pick cotton in 1882, and Colum... More

Cheap clothing - The slaves of the "sweaters" / drawn by W.A. Rogers.

Woman and two children in street carrying heavy loads of clothing for tenement homework, New York City. Illus. in: Harper's weekly, April 26, 1890, p. 333.

Frear's Silk Dep't - Victorian era public domain image

: tradecards,3378 ( tradecards,3378 ) .. Subject (TGM): Cotton pickers; Cotton plantations; Afro-Americans; Slaves; Slavery; Sharecroppers; Cotton; Cotton industry; Silk; Ethnic groups;

America's proud "four hundred" and Europe's haughty "nobility" - and t...

Print shows the American upper class on the left and the European nobility on the right, beneath their family trees, with such ancestors as, on the left, "Skin Trader, Money Lender, Slave Trader, Squatter, [and... More

Emancipation proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln, freeing the sl...

Public domain image related to President Abraham Lincoln, gelatin silver print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

[John Brown, 1800-1859, bust portrait, facing right in memorial frame]

Frame includes words "The Just man shall be in eternal remembrance -- Gave his life for the liberation of the slave."

[A series of statistical charts illustrating the condition of the desc...

Line graph shows comparison of African American to white populations between 1790 and 1890. Title from LOT 11931, no. 37; part title from item. Chart prepared by Atlanta University students for the Negro Exhibi... More

[A series of statistical charts illustrating the condition of the desc...

Diagram shows value of property owned by African Americans in Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. The Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1900, also known as the Paris World Fair of 1900, was a world's... More

Arrested John Gumis, Mugshot photograph, England

Name: John Gumis.Arrested for: Larceny.Arrested at: North Shields Police Station.Arrested on: 5 October 1903.Tyne and Wear Archives ref: DX1388-1-21-John Gumis..The Shields Daily News for 5 October 1903 reports... More

[A series of statistical charts illustrating the condition of the desc...

Bar graph shows percentage of African Americans owning land in nine southern states. Title from LOT 11931, no. 37; part title from item. Chart prepared by Atlanta University students for the Negro Exhibit of th... More

[A series of statistical charts illustrating the condition of the desc...

Bar graph shows number of African Americans in various occupations. Title from LOT 11931, no. 37; part title from item. Chart prepared by Atlanta University students for the Negro Exhibit of the American Sectio... More