images black history month

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

Head of a negro man - Public domain dedication museum photo

Late Classical Public domain photograph of ancient Greek artifact, archaeological object, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description Public domain photograph of ancient Greek artifact, ... More

Head of a negro boy - Public domain museum image. A statue of a head o...

Accession Number: 89.2.2065 Public domain photograph of ancient Greek artifact, archaeological object, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description Public domain photograph of ancient Gre... More

Head of a negro man - Public domain museum image. A statue of a man's ...

Public domain photo of a 3d object, ancient Greek or Roman free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description.

Negro, Salvatore - Public domain portrait engraving

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

Landschap met vrouw rijdend op een muilezel langs de Aqua Negro tussen...

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

Landschap met vrouw rijdend op een muilezel langs de Aqua Negro tussen...

Public domain scan of 17th-18th century Italian print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Landschap met vrouw rijdend op een muilezel langs de Aqua Negro tussen...

Public domain scan of 17th-18th century Italian print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Landschap met vrouw rijdend op een muilezel langs de Aqua Negro tussen...

Public domain scan of 17th-18th century Italian print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Landschap met vrouw rijdend op een muilezel langs de Aqua Negro tussen...

Public domain scan of 17th-18th century dutch print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Portret van Jakob Johann Wenceslaus Dobrzensky de Negro Ponte

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

An account of the number of people in the Province of New York, A.D. 1...

Public domain scan of a document related to American history, Colonial period, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description.

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

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

Maps show percentages of African Americans in the United States between 1800 and 1890. Title from LOT 11931, no. 37; part title from item. Chart prepared by Atlanta University students for the Negro Exhibit of ... More

[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.

"Cyrus Tiffany in the Battle of Lake Erie, September 13, 1813," mural ...

Title, date, subject note, and keywords provided by the photographer. Credit line: The George F. Landegger Collection of District of Columbia Photographs in Carol M. Highsmith's America, Library of Congress, Pr... More

Life in Philadelphia. Plate 13 / Clay fecit 1829.

Print shows an African American couple walking on the street; the woman asks the man whether he likes the waltz. Exchange; (DLC/PP-1973:253). Caption: "How you like de waltz, Mr. Lorenzo?" "'Pon de honour of... More

Like master like man / E.W. Clay del.

Print shows two African American men, with their seconds, about to fight a duel with pistols at close range.

Boston minstrels. The celebrated Ethiopian melodies ...

Music cover illustrated with caricatures of six minstrels in two scenes.

The crow quadrilles--Arranged for the pianoforte by Robt. Ashley, Esq....

Music cover with seven vignettes of caricatures of African-Americans. Public domain scan of American 19th-century print, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

The aristocracy of color - Drawing. Public domain image.

Signed in stone: J. Cn. Title appears as it is written on the item. Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

Soloque. Emperor of Hayti, creating a grand duke

Published & for sale by J.L. Magee, no. 34 Mott St, NY. Title appears as it is written on the item. Forms part of: American cartoon print filing series (Library of Congress)

Much ado about nothing or a militia court-martial!!

A satire on the pretensions and general decadence of the American local militia during the Jacksonian era. A man on a witness stand (far left) is questioned by a court-martial. Several officers sit around a tab... 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.

"The government." No. 1, [Eye] take the responsibility

A satire on Andrew Jackson's "Kitchen Cabinet," the pejorative name given his informal circle of close advisors. The print appeared during the heated controversy incited by Jackson's discontinuation of federal ... 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 crow quadrilles. Piano forte by John H. Hewitt / N. Currier's lith...

Music cover with eight vignettes of caricatures of blacks. Currier & Ives : a catalogue raisonné / compiled by Gale Research. Detroit, MI : Gale Research, c1983, no. 1436.

Long tail blue / Willig's lith.

Music cover showing man wearing top hat and coat with tails, holding monocle and walking stick.

The new code of chivalry or what we would have done. As approved by "...

The second of two satires by Chambers on events surrounding the killing of Maine Congressman Jonathan Cilley by Kentucky Representative William J. Graves in a February 24, 1838, duel. (See also "Scene in Washin... More

The disappointed abolitionists. Book illustration from Library of Cong...

Three men at left, one saying, "Verily friend Darg since we have returned thee thy money, I claim the reward of $1000 - Brother Barney Corse was merely my agent, verily!" Another "Yea verily I was but thy instr... More

Abolition frowned down. Book illustration from Library of Congress

A satire on enforcement of the "gag-rule" in the House of Representatives, prohibiting discussion of the question of slavery. Growing antislavery sentiment in the North coincided with increased resentment by so... More

Honorable & Reverend B.R. Wilson of Monrovia, Liberia, died Oct. 9, 18...

Photograph shows portrait of B.R. Wilson, Methodist missionary to Liberia. The albumen silver print is a photographic printing process that was widely used in the 19th century. It involves coating paper suppor... More

Matty's perilous situation up Salt River

A pro-Whig satire on the presidential campaign of 1840. Martin Van Buren is neck-deep in the waters of "Salt River," a colloquial term for political misfortune or failure. He sinks under the weight of boxes m... More

Fanny Elssler and the Baltimoreans, Political Cartoon

A scornful look at the reception of German ballerina Fanny Elssler in Baltimore. The New York artist ridicules the adulation given the touring performer by the Baltimore public. During her July 1840 visit there... More

Ginger blue, a popular Negro melody, composed & sung by Mr. R.W. Pelha...

Music cover showing boy dancing in dilapidated room, with kettle in fireplace.

[Farmers nooning, from the original picture in the possession of Jona....

Print shows workmen resting in the shade of a tree, one man is sharpening a tool, an African American man reclining on a stack of hay, a young boy is leaning over the stack, tickling the man's ear with a piece ... More

[Farmers nooning, from the original picture in the possession of Jona....

Print shows workmen resting in the shade of a tree, one man is sharpening a tool, an African American man reclining on a stack of hay, a young boy is leaning over the stack, tickling the man's ear with a piece ... More

Trouble in the Spartan ranks. Old Durham in the field

A complex and somewhat obscure satire celebrating the defeat of Dorrite Democrats in the Rhode Island state elections of spring 1843. The canvass was held the year following the successful suppression of the Do... More

[Farmers nooning, from the original picture in the possession of Jona....

Print shows workmen resting in the shade of a tree, one man is sharpening a tool, an African American man reclining on a stack of hay, a young boy is leaning over the stack, tickling the man's ear with a piece ... More

Race between Bennett and Greely for the Post Office stakes

A satire on the competition between rival editors Horace Greeley and James Gordon Bennett for New York post office printing contracts. The artist also comments on the circulation wars between Bennett's "New Yor... More

[Farmers nooning, from the original picture in the possession of Jona....

Print shows workmen resting in the shade of a tree, one man is sharpening a tool, an African American man reclining on a stack of hay, a young boy is leaning over the stack, tickling the man's ear with a piece ... More

[Farmers nooning, from the original picture in the possession of Jona....

Print shows workmen resting in the shade of a tree, one man is sharpening a tool, an African American man reclining on a stack of hay, a young boy is leaning over the stack, tickling the man's ear with a piece ... More

Dandy Jim, from Carolina; a popular Negro melody, as sung by B. Willia...

Music cover showing man looking at himself in mirror. Public domain photograph related to race relations, African Americans, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

[Farmers nooning, from the original picture in the possession of Jona....

Print shows workmen resting in the shade of a tree, one man is sharpening a tool, an African American man reclining on a stack of hay, a young boy is leaning over the stack, tickling the man's ear with a piece ... More

[Farmers nooning, from the original picture in the possession of Jona....

Print shows workmen resting in the shade of a tree, one man is sharpening a tool, an African American man reclining on a stack of hay, a young boy is leaning over the stack, tickling the man's ear with a piece ... More

[Farmers nooning, from the original picture in the possession of Jona....

Print shows workmen resting in the shade of a tree, one man is sharpening a tool, an African American man reclining on a stack of hay, a young boy is leaning over the stack, tickling the man's ear with a piece ... More

Loco Foco triumphal honors - Public domain book illustration, Library ...

A mock triumphal procession ridiculing "Loco Foco" or radical Democratic support of candidates James K. Polk and George M. Dallas. The Loco Focos are portrayed as ragged Irishmen, carrying the two candidates on... More

The celebrated Congo minstrels' songs / Thayer & Co's lith., Boston.

Music cover showing five minstrels on stage. Copyright by C.H. Keith.

The Massachusetts hoar, outwitted, or hopping-John, and Johnny-cake, f...

An imaginative but puzzling commentary on sectional tensions over slavery between New England abolitionists and southern agrarian slaveholders. In his sweeping satire the artist also portrays a considerable hos... More

Whitlock's collection of Ethiopian melodies. As sung with great applau...

Music cover showing two men on stage, one dancing and one playing banjo.

The tree of liberty. The free population of the United States enjoyin...

A somewhat puzzling commentary on two issues: slavery and economic protectionism. The date of the print is uncertain, but it may have appeared as part of the reaction against the Walker Tariff of 1846. A Northe... More

Who says gas? Or the Democratic b-hoy

A pro-Democrat satire, pitting Democratic candidate Lewis Cass against Whig nominee Zachary Taylor in a bout for the presidency. Cass (center) is the obvious favorite. He wears the stovepipe hat, boots, bold pl... More

The candidate of many parties. A phrenological examination to ascertai...

Whig nominee Zachary Taylor's reluctance to clearly declare his political views was an issue eagerly exploited by the opposition in the 1848 campaign. Here the artist shows phrenologist Orson S. Fowler probing... More

The telegraphic candidates - Steam locomotive, Public domain image

In a race between the railroad and the telegraph the "telegraphic candidates," Lewis Cass and William O. Butler, are first to the White House. The artist ridicules Zachary Taylor for his hazy stance on major ca... More

The Sabbath among slaves - Public domain scan / engraving

Illustration showing Afro-American dancing, playing banjo, and resting. Illus. in: Narrative of the life and adventures of Henry Bibb, an American slave, New York, 1849, p. 38. Published in: The African-America... More

[Gentleman with two Negro workers bowing over grave]

This record contains unverified data from PGA shelflist card. Associated name on shelflist card: Branstard, J.

John Gassett. - Public domain portrait print

Public domain portrait photograph, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Bertha Henry. - Public domain portrait print

Public domain photograph related to 19th-century Africa, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Sallie. - Public domain portrait drawing Cartes de visite

[Full-length studio portrait of unidentified man.]

Public domain reproduction of still life painting, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description.

[Studio portrait of a young man.]

Public domain photograph related to 19th-century Africa, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

[Studio portrait of unidentified seated young man, his left arm restin...

Julius Steegall. - Public domain portrait print

Picryl description: Public domain image, drawing, American, 19th century, free to use, no copyright restrictions

[Group of 71 Stereograph Views of African-Americans and Early Black Am...

Public domain photograph related to 19th-century Africa, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Robert Douglass, dyeing and cleaning business, Washington, D.C.

[Studio portrait of two young women.]

Public domain photograph related to 19th-century Africa, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

[Studio portrait of unidentified seated young man, holding cap.]

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

[Studio portrait of unidentified man with long sideburns and wavy hair...

Public domain portrait photograph, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Josie Wallace. - Public domain portrait photograph

Public domain photograph related to 19th-century Africa, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Portrait of a Creole gentleman. Cartes de visite

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

Lottie Grimke - Public domain portrait print

Public domain portrait photograph, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

[Studio portrait of unidentified man wearing double-breasted jacket.]

S. A. Payne (Bishop Payne). - Public domain portrait print

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

[Studio portrait of unidentified woman, arms on back of chair.]

[Studio portrait of unidentifed young man, seated on prop hay bale.]

A man laying on the ground with his feet up. A man laying on a rock with his head on the ground. Public domain postcard scan.

[Full-length portrait of man, with studio props.]

[Oval half-figure portrait of unidentified man.]

Public domain portrait photograph, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Bishop Crowther. - Public domain portrait print

Public domain photograph related to the history of England, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

Jim Patterson. - Public domain portrait print

Public domain photograph related to 19th-century Africa, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description

[Studio portrait of unidentified woman holding handkerchief.]

Public domain photo of portrait art print, 16th century, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description.

[Full length portrait of unidentified man.]

[Studio portrait of a young man wearing tie and stick pin.]

What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander

The opposition of Northern abolitionists, churchmen, and political figures to enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 is criticized in this rare pro-Southern cartoon. In two panels artist Edward Williams ... More

The blessings of liberty or how to "hook" a "gentleman of color"

A diverse group of abolitionists try to drag an unwilling black man toward the left with a large gaff hook. Holding the hook are (left to right) an old hag, a Quaker man, and two other homely men. The hag dec... More

[Fig. 1 Greenland seal-hunting; fig. 2 Brazilian Indians bird-shooting...

Illus. in: Heck, Iconographic Encyclopedia, (1851) v. 1, plate 35. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: Patagonia; Dwellings; Seals; Brazil; Greenland; Ind. of S. ... More

[Sheet of sketches for the illustrated 1852 London edition of Uncle To...

Purchase; Warren Ewens; 1993; (DLC-PP/1993:162). Published in: Eyes of the nation : a visual history of the United States / Vincent Virga and curators of the Library of Congress ; historical commentary by Alan ... More

A dish of "black turtle" - Political cartoon, public domain image

The cartoonist mocks the opportunism evident in Winfield Scott's endorsement of both the abolitionist cause and the Missouri Compromise. Scott, in military uniform, is seated at a table with a plate of soup be... More

Abu Nabut and Negro Slaves in Cairo

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

The fish question settled - Public domain print

A facetious, and somewhat racist, look at public opinion surrounding the controversy over American fishing rights in British-controlled waters off North America. (See also "John Bull's Fish Monopoly," no. 1852-... More

Pilgrims of the Rhine-O! - Political cartoon, public domain image

Whig presidential candidate Winfield Scott and his party pursue an abolitionist course leading toward Salt River and political doom. New York senator and antislavery advocate William Seward appears as a poodle ... More

Eclipse & no eclipse or two views of one object

Two scenes showing the differing perceptions of Franklin Pierce's stand on the issue of slavery, as viewed by the North and South. The cartoon is divided vertically by "Mason & Dixon's Line." An arrow identifie... More

Winner's improved method for the violin

Music cover showing four black people--couple dancing in front of fireplace, man playing violin, and man standing in doorway.

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

[African American woman holding a white child]

Rinhart, no. 119. Modern handwritten note in case: Slave nanny/white child image came from an estate sale somewhere in the flat lands delta area of Arkansas. Likely from one of the following Arkansas towns: Hel... 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

[African American man, possibly named "Small", full length studio port...

Inscribed in ink and pencil on verso: Small. On verso: No. 13185. Purchase; Marian Carson; 2001; (DLC/PP-2001:068). Forms part of: Marian S. Carson Collection at the Library of Congress.

Negro expulsion from railway car, Philadelphia

Illus. in: The Illustrated London News, 1856 Sept. 27, p. 314. Reference copy may be in LOT 4422 D. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: Shelf.

[Proof for bank note vignette showing Afro-American men tapping sap fr...

Chickering Collection.

Ahead of all, N.L. Hansen & Co's. Magnolia Tobacco, unsurpassed by any...

Print shows an African American man with arms stretched out holding tobacco leaves in each hand. An eagle sits on a banner with the words "N.L. Hansen & Co's" directly above the man. First word in title "Ahead... More