4 10 101 https://mirrorofrace.bc.edu/files/original/cfdd71cacc6aaa9ab6fb3a0df1f67dfc.jpg dc51b20f8656dab25b086d9452ce9084 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Frontiers of the Human Body Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Exhibition Name Name of the exhibition in which the item appears Frontiers of the Human Body Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Carte de visite, albumen print Factual Commentary Factual Commentary This family of albinos were performers in a circus such as the one created by P. T. Barnum. The man might be Charles Gohren, who can be seen in Figure 2 in this slideshow. Note the strange ?wild man? costume he is wearing, including an animal skin skirt. This, together with his teased hair, was meant to display him as exotic, perhaps playing on the belief that alibinos were a more primitive form of white people. For an essay on the obsession with forms of primordial whiteness, see the essay <a href=?http://mirrorofrace.org/circassian/? target=?_blank?> ?A Freakish Whiteness: The Circassian Lady and the Caucasian Fantasy?</a> on this site. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Figure 3 Title A name given to the resource Family of albino performers Subject The topic of the resource Family of albino performers Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mathew Brady Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1865 Type The nature or genre of the resource Studio Portrait Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Greg French Collection https://mirrorofrace.bc.edu/files/original/8842cec36a52745fe93090f5fb816748.tif 248a1fe60b2ebfb2a22f655abe3ccf02 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Violence Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Exhibition Name Name of the exhibition in which the item appears Violence Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Tintype Factual Commentary Factual Commentary This photograph seems on the surface to describe an opposite social dynamic from the previous one of the mock lynching, because here it is the black man who holds a gun, a large Remington revolver. Outside of Civil War images, it is quite are to find photographs of African Americans holding weapons in this early period. But just as the previous image of the lynching is a visual joke, something done only in “play,” we might well wonder if this is an in-joke image, too, with the reversal of power relations as what is supposed to be funny. The black man with the gun is surrounded by white men, and the man at the right has his arm around his shoulder, grinning, as if in on the joke. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Figure 8 Title A name given to the resource Four men and a revolver Subject The topic of the resource Four men and a revolve Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1885 Type The nature or genre of the resource Studio Portrait Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Greg French Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Photographer Photographer https://mirrorofrace.bc.edu/files/original/07bdcfb10554e5e8137cff2c2ef8f91e.tif 248a1fe60b2ebfb2a22f655abe3ccf02 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mirror of Race Subject The topic of the resource Mirror of Race Main Collection Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data tintype Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image Half Plate (4.25 x 5.5 inches) Factual Commentary Factual Commentary The African American man in the center of this photograph holds a large Remington revolver, probably of Civil War vintage, although this image is from later in the century. Unfortunately, we know nothing more about the identities of these men or the circumstances of the photograph. Interpretive Commentary Interpretive Commentary This enigmatic photograph raises many questions. What are these three white men doing with the one black man? Why is the African American man displaying a revolver, and why is he the only one armed, a reversal of the usual power dynamic between the races in the period? The white men seem to be friendly with the black one ― the man at the right with a cigar smiles broadly and has his arm over the the central figure’s shoulder, and he seems to be smiling, too. But there is also something menacing about the pose: the white men surround and hem in the black man, and the man at the right seems more to be leering than embracing him. Perhaps the joke is a cruel one: a sarcastic reversal of the power dynamic that is just that ― a joke. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Figure041 Title A name given to the resource four men and a revolver Subject The topic of the resource unknown Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1885 Type The nature or genre of the resource studio portrait Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Greg French Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Photographer Photographer https://mirrorofrace.bc.edu/files/original/5dca36daab7f86c0db028978af3e60b4.jpg fd30d15095e4cdc8aa38f44853d30e63 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Gender Benders Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Exhibition Name Name of the exhibition in which the item appears Gender Benders Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Carte de visite, albumen print Factual Commentary Factual Commentary Frances Clalin Clayton (misidentified as Celetin on the back of this photo) was one of possibly hundreds of women who passed as men to fight in the Civil War. She adopted the name Jack Williams to join her husband, Elmer Clayton, when he enlisted in the Union army. She served in both the artillery and cavalry (her uniform here), and fought in several battles, including Fort Donelson and Stones River, where Elmer was killed right in front of her, but she stepped over him and kept on fighting. For a book about Clayton and other gender-bending warriors, see They Fought Like Demons: Women Soldiers in the Civil War, by De Anne Blanton and Lauren Cook. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Figure 6 Title A name given to the resource Frances Clalin Clayton, aka Jack Williams Subject The topic of the resource Frances Clalin Clayton, aka Jack Williams Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Samuel Masury (Boston) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1865 Type The nature or genre of the resource Studio Portrait Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Greg French Collection https://mirrorofrace.bc.edu/files/original/dc937d8c877f2742ea4d7c1699db654d.jpg fd30d15095e4cdc8aa38f44853d30e63 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mirror of Race Subject The topic of the resource Mirror of Race Main Collection Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data carte de visite: albumen print Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image cdv standard Factual Commentary Factual Commentary Frances Clayton adopted the name Jack Williams and posed as a man so that she could join her husband, Elmer Clayton, when he enlisted in the Union army. They fought together in several Missouri regiments, both cavalry and artillery. Elmer Clayton was killed in action, in front of Frances, at the battle of Mufreesboro on December 31, 1862, but she kept on fighting. She was wounded multiple times herself, but managed to keep her identity hidden even after the death of her husband. She fought at many engagements, including the decisive battle of Fort Donelson on February 12, 1862. Interpretive Commentary Interpretive Commentary Frances Clayton was not the only woman to adopt a male persona to fight in the war. Dozens if not hundreds did so, too. The Miror of Race is interested in exploring the issue of gender passing as it relates to race passing. How do the two forms of passing compare? Which was more of a transgression at the time? When and why did it become acceptable to pass, either by race or by gender? What kind of "performance" was required to carry it off? And what does passing tell about the reality, or non-reality, of race and gender as natural categories? Please go here for a sub-exhibition of portraits of women pushing the boundaries of gender roles in this period. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Figure020 Title A name given to the resource Frances Clalin Clayton, aka Jack Williams Subject The topic of the resource Frances Clalin Clayton, aka Jack Williams Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource S. Masury Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1865 Type The nature or genre of the resource studio portrait Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Greg French Collection https://mirrorofrace.bc.edu/files/original/7377ec92a84719cd24f6bc9f6fcad5c2.tif a2132deb7a8a07cd2b31a751200201d2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Abolitionists Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Exhibition Name Name of the exhibition in which the item appears Abolitionists Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Daguerreotype, sixth plate (2.75 x 3.25 inches) Factual Commentary Factual Commentary This is the earliest know portrait of the great American orator and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), taken around 1845, probably shortly after the publication of his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Douglass devoted his energies to civil and human rights, advocating the abolition of slavery, founding newspapers to support the cause, recruiting African American regiments during the Civil War to fight for the Union, and serving the government after the war as ambassador to Haiti. Douglass believed in photography as medium of persuasion and sat for his portrait often. The next two slides show him later in life. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Figure 1 Title A name given to the resource Frederick Douglass Subject The topic of the resource Frederick Douglass Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1845 Type The nature or genre of the resource Studio Portrait Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Greg French Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource photographer Unknown Photographer Photographer https://mirrorofrace.bc.edu/files/original/859e81567acb683dd400b030d6d466eb.jpg 4fe839bf3f9b4a4fd856b4a8a931383b Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Abolitionists Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Exhibition Name Name of the exhibition in which the item appears Abolitionists Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Carte de visit, albumen print Factual Commentary Factual Commentary Frederick Douglass sat for this portrait by S. M. Fassett of Chicago around 1870, after the exhausting work he did during the Civil War to support the Union cause and to recruit African American regiments to fight. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Figure 2 Title A name given to the resource Frederick Douglass Subject The topic of the resource Frederick Douglass Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource S. M. Fassett (Chicago) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1870 Type The nature or genre of the resource Studio Portrait Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Greg French Collection https://mirrorofrace.bc.edu/files/original/cead6875b57059600833c2714bb7880b.jpg 81aee6ca5a5a3a689815902c4f296c07 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Abolitionists Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Exhibition Name Name of the exhibition in which the item appears Abolitionists Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data Carte de visit, albumen print Factual Commentary Factual Commentary In this photograph from around 1880, Frederick Douglass has chosen the skilled Boston portraitist, George Kendall Warren to take his portrait. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Figure 3 Title A name given to the resource Frederick Douglass Subject The topic of the resource Frederick Douglass Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource George Kendall Warren (Boston) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1880 Type The nature or genre of the resource Studio Portrait Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Greg French Collection https://mirrorofrace.bc.edu/files/original/1e1f1927b0f25eccb8cee107698bab28.tif a2132deb7a8a07cd2b31a751200201d2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mirror of Race Subject The topic of the resource Mirror of Race Main Collection Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data daguerreotype Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image Sixth Plate (2.75 x 3.25 inches) Factual Commentary Factual Commentary This is the earliest known portrait of Frederick Douglass (1818(?)-1895), the great American abolitionist, orator, and writer. We do not know the photographer, or where the portrait was taken, but judging from the style of the case the photograph comes in, it was probably taken around 1845, about the time of the publication of the autobiography that made him famous: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Douglass was a strong proponent of photography as a medium that could present people as they truly were, deserving equal respect as human beings, so he often sat for his portrait, using these images as publicity. He wrote and delivered several public lectures on the importance of photography. The autobiographical Narrative is the best place to go for the life of Douglass, and you can read a version of it online here, but the broad details are these: Douglass was born into slavery around 1818 in Maryland. He did not know his exact birth date or even birth year with certainty. His father may have been his own master. In his childhood, Douglass was lent out to a relation of his master, whose wife taught him the rudiments of reading, even though it was against the law to teach a slave to read. Douglass continued to teach himself by any means he could find, and learning to read fired his desire for freedom. When Douglass was 16, his master grew unhappy with him and hired him out in 1833 to a notorious slave-breaker, Thomas Covey, who beat Douglass regularly. Douglass finally fought back against Covey in an hours-long brawl, and Covey never tried to whip him again. After that, Douglass made several attempts to escape slavery, finally succeeding in 1838. He made his way to New York City, where he married Anna Murray, a free Black woman he had met in Maryland whose status as a free woman had inspired his own aspirations. He and Anna moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where Douglass became progressively more and more involved in the abolitionist movement. He started speaking publicly in 1841 and published his autobiography in 1845. The book rapidly became a bestseller, both in the United States and abroad, and Douglass traveled to Ireland and England, where gave speeches to crowded venues, earning financial support for his further ventures. Upon returning to the United States, Douglass started his career as a journalist and abolitionist newspaper publisher, founding The North Star, Frederick Douglass Weekly, and other papers. His thinking expanded to include civil equality for all, not just slaves and free BLacks, but woman and all peoples, including Native Americans. He continued his speaking tours to advance the abolitionist cause. During the Civil War, Douglass lobbied tirelessly with President Lincoln for the right of Blacks to serve in the army. After the war, Douglass continued in his work for civil rights through journalism, writing, politics, and speeches. He held several ambassadorial positions, including consul-general to the Republic of Haiti (1889-1891). When he died in 1895, thousands came to pay their respects. Interpretive Commentary Interpretive Commentary It is remarkable that we have a portrait record of Frederick Douglass in 1845, at the moment he entered into history as the author of his international bestseller, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. From the very beginning of his public career, Douglass saw photography as an important tool in the fight for freedom. The essay "True Pictures: Frederick Douglass on the Promise of Photography," available on the Mirror of Race website here, explores his faith in the power of photography to contribute to the fight for equality. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Figure012 Title A name given to the resource Frederick Douglass Subject The topic of the resource Frederick Douglass Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1845 Type The nature or genre of the resource studio portrait Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Greg French Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Photographer https://mirrorofrace.bc.edu/files/original/4baa21026b0f0ec6570215734193b38d.tif 1387fe5d1aa6d7eb8513c194fa4eb103 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Mirror of Race Subject The topic of the resource Mirror of Race Main Collection Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data tintype Physical Dimensions The actual physical size of the original image cdv standard Factual Commentary Factual Commentary In the 19th century both adults and children would often pose with prize possessions that they believed identified something essential about them. The central focus of this tintype is the black doll, which the girl in the photograph presents for the camera. It should be possible to identify the maker of this particular doll and thereby more precisely the date of this image. If you are an expert on 19th century dolls and can identify this one, please be in touch with us at Mirror of Race. Interpretive Commentary Interpretive Commentary For millions of girls, dolls have served as intimate companions. Dolls offer the opportunity try out the role of mother to a doll or interacting with an imaginary adult as embodied by the doll. In such play, a child learns how she does and does not, or can and cannot, fit in with acceptable social roles. In that sense, dolls have power to reinforce prevailing gender roles. They are never just toys, because all play has a seriousness to it as well. So what does it tell us that this white girl would also choose an emphatically black doll as her companion? To bring the doll to the photographer suggests the doll was a precious possession for this girl, who smiles very subtlely for the camera and looks the viewer squarely in the eye ― and she holds the dolls to meet our eye, too. By contrast, the woman with them, presumably the girl’s mother, looks aside, as if refusing to meet the viewer’s gaze. In another image from the same session with the photographer (see below), the girl cradles the doll even more lovingly, while the mother holds an umbrella over them, as if protecting them from sun or rain ― or from view. Once again, the mother looks askance, with the same quizzical look on her face as in the other photograph. Just as doll-play could reinforce gender norms, doll-play could also reinforce racial roles. And yet ― Is this girl acting out a broader social drama of racial subjection, or is she modeling an intimacy that makes even her own mother look away? Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Figure028 Title A name given to the resource girl, woman, and doll Subject The topic of the resource unknown Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource circa 1875 Type The nature or genre of the resource studio portrait Rights Holder A person or organization owning or managing rights over the resource. Greg French Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Unknown Photographer Photographer