Slavery

Mary Ann Brown Patten, photographed by an unidentified artist, 1857

How the Camera Introduced Americans to Their Heroines

A new show at the National Portrait Gallery spotlights figures including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lucretia Mott and Margaret Fuller

L. Prang & Co. print of the painting Hancock at Gettysburg by Thure de Thulstrup, showing Pickett's Charge.

The Diaries Left Behind by Confederate Soldiers Reveal the True Role of Enslaved Labor at Gettysburg

Even as some enslaved men escaped North, the retreat by the Army of Northern Virginia would have been disastrous without the support of its camp servants

In the corner of one side of the document, Washington wrote "Genealogy of the Washington Family in Virginia"

This Long-Ignored Document, Written by George Washington, Lays Bare the Legal Power of Genealogy

In Washington’s Virginia, family was a crucial determinant of social and economic status, and freedom

A wooden canoe seat, carved with a spider's web, became noteworthy for being the very first of the 36,000 artifacts in NMAAHC’s collections.

Meet Juan García Salazar, the Man Who Championed Black Identity in Ecuador

Behind the very first artifact to enter the African American History Museum's collections resides a story about recovering the Afro-Ecuadorian experience

This hand-colored carte de visite depicts Virginia L. Molyneaux Hewlett Douglass, who married Frederick Douglass, Jr., the son of the famous African American leader. The mount is inscribed: “Mrs. Fredk Douglass.”

These Photo Albums Offer a Rare Glimpse of 19th-Century Boston’s Black Community

Thanks to the new acquisition, scholars at the Athenaeum library are connecting the dots of the city’s social network of abolitionists

The descendants of Cudjo Lewis and Abache (above) heard stories of the ship that tore their ancestors from their homeland and now the wreck of the Clotilda has been confirmed to be found in Alabama's Mobile River.

The 'Clotilda,' the Last Known Slave Ship to Arrive in the U.S., Is Found

The discovery carries intense personal meaning for an Alabama community of descendants of the ship's survivors

Archeologist Rhonda Kimbrough (left) discusses the survey strategy at Prospect Bluff with author and historian Dale Cox and SEAF Treasurer Janet Bard

Relics of Rebel Slave Fort Unearthed by Hurricane Michael

The site was recently listed as part of the NPS’ Underground Railroad Network to Freedom

Wainright watches over Livingstone's body on the trip back to Britain.

Diary of Livingstone's Intrepid African Attendant Jacob Wainwright Digitized

He traveled with the Scottish missionary and explorer searching for the source of the Nile, and he's responsible for bringing his remains to Britain

Rhiannon Giddens is joined by Canadian-American musician-songwriter Allison Russell (Po’ Girl, Birds of Chicago), Leyla McCalla (Carolina Chocolate Drops) and Amythyst Kiah (Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest of Glass) for the new album Songs of Our Native Daughters.

Why These Four Banjo-Playing Women Resurrected the Songs of the Enslaved

The new Folkways album "Songs of Our Native Daughters" draws spiritually from slave narratives and other pre-19th-century sources

Redoshi seen in “The Negro Farmer: Extension Work for Better Farming and Better Living"

Researcher Identifies the Last Living Survivor of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Redoshi was 12 when she was kidnapped and sold to the crew of the <i>Clotilda</i>

The Emily Howland photo album containing the portrait of Tubman, (above: detail, ca. 1868) was unveiled this week at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

A Previously Unknown Portrait of a Young Harriet Tubman Goes on View

"I was stunned," says director Lonnie Bunch; historic Emily Howland photo album contains dozens of other abolitionists and leaders who took an active role

Tamara Lanier takes questions this week during a press conference announcing a lawsuit against Harvard University.

Why These Early Images of American Slavery Have Led to a Lawsuit Against Harvard

Tamara Lanier claims the university has profited off the images of her ancestors

Daesha Devón Harris Combines Oral History and Antique Portraits to Tell a Story of Loss and Hope

These layered works testify to African-American history

Archaeologists from the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration found this 19th-century clay pipe at the excavation site that contained the DNA of a woman who had connections to the region that is now modern-day Sierra Leone.

DNA From 200-Year-Old Pipe Links Enslaved Woman to Sierra Leone

A new genetic analysis suggests that certain artifacts can help descendants of enslaved people piece together their ancestral heritage

The "Faces of Dudley" mural depicts residents of Boston's Roxbury neighborhood

This Map Details More Than 200 Massachusetts Sites Connected to African-American History

You can contribute to the project by suggesting new entries or proposing edits to existing ones via the project’s main hub

Mary Mildred Williams again takes center stage in Jessie Morgan-Owens’ new book Girl in Black and White.

The Enslaved Girl Who Became America's First Poster Child

In 1855, Mary Mildred Williams energized the abolitionist movement

American orator, editor, author, abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) edits a journal at his desk, late 1870s.

‘The North Star’ Amplified Black Voices. How a 2019 Reboot of Frederick Douglass’ Paper Hopes to Do the Same

A new outfit sees inspiration from the 19th-century publication that pursued the cause of fighting injustice everywhere

How First Lady Sarah Polk Set a Model for Conservative Female Power

The popular and pious wife to President James Polk had little use for the nascent suffrage movement

A portait of Omar Ibn Said made around the 1850s

Only Surviving Arabic Slave Narrative Written in the United States Digitized by Library of Congress

Omar Ibn Said, a wealthy intellectual from West Africa, wrote about his capture and enslavement in America

Heavily Abridged ‘Slave Bible’ Removed Passages That Might Encourage Uprisings

The rare artifact is the focus of a new exhibition at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C.

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