Rare Photo of Slave Children Found in NC Attic

(AP)  A haunting 150-year-old photo found in a North Carolina attic shows a young black child named John, barefoot and wearing ragged clothes, perched on a barrel next to another unidentified young boy.

Art historians believe it's an extremely rare Civil War-era photograph of children who were either slaves at the time or recently emancipated.

The photo, which may have been taken in the early 1860s, was a testament to a dark part of American history, said Will Stapp, a photographic historian and founding curator of the National Portrait Gallery's photographs department at the Smithsonian Institution.

"It's a very difficult and poignant piece of American history," he said. "What you are looking at when you look at this photo are two boys who were victims of that history."

In April, the photo was found at a moving sale in Charlotte, accompanied by a document detailing the sale of John for $1,150, not a small sum in 1854.

New York collector Keya Morgan said he paid $30,000 for the photo album including the photo of the young boys and several family pictures and $20,000 for the sale document. Morgan said the deceased owner of the home where the photo was found was thought to be a descendant of John.

A portrait of slave children is rare, Morgan said.

"I buy stuff all the time, but this shocked me," he said.

What makes the picture an even more compelling find is that several art experts said it was created by the photography studio of Mathew Brady, a famous 19th-century photographer known for his portraits of historical figures such as President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Stapp said the photo was probably not taken by Brady himself but by Timothy O'Sullivan, one of Brady's apprentices. O'Sullivan took a multitude of photos depicting the carnage of the Civil War.

In 1862, O'Sullivan famously photographed a group of some of the first slaves liberated after Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Such photos were circulated in the North by abolitionists to garner support for the Union during the Civil War, said Harold Holzer, an author of several books about Lincoln. Holzer works as an administrator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Most of the photos depicted adult slaves who had been beaten or whipped, he said.

The photo of the two boys is more subtle, Holzer said, which may be why it wasn't widely circulated and remained unpublished for so long.

"To me, it's such a moving and astonishing picture," he said.

Ron Soodalter, an author and member of the board of directors at the Abraham Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C., said the photo depicts the reality of slavery.

"I think this picture shows that the institution of slavery didn't pick or choose," said Soodalter, who has written several books on historic and modern slavery. "This was a generic horror. It victimized the old, the young."

For now, Morgan said, he is keeping the photo in his personal collection, but he said he has had an inquiry to sell the photo to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He said he is considering participating in the creation of a video documentary about John.

"This kid was abused and mistreated and people forgot about him," Morgan said. "He doesn't even exist in history. And to know that there were a million children who were like him. I've never seen another photo like that that speaks so much for children."

[ladybugful]

Anyone moved by this picture to avoid slave made clothes can find hand- loomed fabric and purses from Little Mango Imports, fair trade and organic clothes on various sites, shoes from San Antonio shoe Co. and various sites online. I just don't want to be a "Debbie downer" and not point out some happier options!

[ladybugful]

Whoever these boys were they resemble each other and were abused and unhappy...not just shabby. Most southerners were shabby by then. They are also long dead and hopefully in a much happier place. If we have tears, let us shed them for the millions like them today who are slaving for our malls and box stores. Why not use the news media to witness to modern child slaves in the garment industry, office supplies, sex trade. Show the chain of hands that make t-shirts for sale in American stores...Polo shirts for designer brands. If we want to honor these little boys memory, that is the way to do it. How about it?

[Rpnt]

I am not black and my family is from the Prince Edward Island area. My family is of Irish and Scottish decent and worked themselves to an early death to care for my family. Although we fished, farmed and probably traded with people that did own slaves.... it doesn't make me 'guilty' just because I am white. Right after President Lincoln signed the proclamation black people worked to make money for themselves - but they ALSO OWNED BLACK PEOPLE AS SLAVES. Please tell me why slavery is blamed on only white people?

[ecb4_2000]

You ask a reasonable & presumably sincere question Rpnt. There were definitely some Blacks (& Native Americans) over the long history of slavery in the U.S. that (when allowed)owned and exploited African people in the same ways and same reasons as whites. But if you look at the history facts, you'll find that the OVERWHELMING majority of the relatively FEW Blacks who legally owned slaves, bought their OWN family members (and THEMSLEVES) OUT of real enslavement. Check it for yourself. There were "Black Codes", laws that did not ALLOW 'free' Blacks to remain in certain areas. (Might 'infect' the slaves with Freedom)
But to answer your question, those who know the history DON"T ONLY blame white people.But if you look at who owned 98% of the enslaved, controlled 100% of the government, financial, legal institutions & Military/Police forces,it might give you a clue as to where you and others might have gotten that perception.
Those people Looked like your ancestors. Don't be 'guilty', be FAIR! If your ancestors profited by trade, access to jobs, finance, education or land ownership allowed to whites and denied to Blacks during and AFTER slavery, then support Reparations for that injustice.

[ladybugful]

The same system that made slavery profitable long ago is still alive and well all over the world. Is the topic here slavery or racism? I live in the deep south where many slaves from Africa arrived to be sold. My ancestors owned them. Every single American profited from the unpaid labor of slaves and indentured servants, and as well from the Chinese coolies who helped build the transcontinental railroad for pittances. The net has many sites where you can find out where the slaves are today, what they make and for whom...brand names, companies,sexual abuse, the whole sordid crime. Slavery is a major part of globalization. If we want to honor the memory of these black American slaves, or atone for the sins of our ancestors, the best way is to boycott and broadcast for all to know of it. Who made your clothes?

[ecb4_2000]

To this day, it is reasonable to assume and probably documentable, that 70+% of the African-American population in Raleigh and the major cities of the U.S.A. could not buy ourselves out of slavery if we went ON SALE for the 4th of July Specials @ $1150.00! (TODAY's Dollars!)
Just imagine (calculate) the value and the income generating potential of enslaved African people to this nation's economy! (Note: These were Pre-TEENS) What would our net worth be if John, his bud and YOUR ancestors were able to pass the wealth they obviously created on to their family instead of that of their "Owners" and the U.S. & state governments' revenues!
Sounds/Looks like a perfect picture of the case for reparations for the descendants of African people enslaved in the the U.S

[czman11]

I'm reading some of the comments here and I can't believe how much of a white supremacy we still have to deal with. Even after all these years some of the readers can't admit that slavery of blacks is part of the American history. The picture shows two boys dressed in rags and since it is dated to 1860s every normal person would link it with slavery. Some of you rednecks need to wake up and smell the coffee here. Even if this article maybe some kind of bad joke since same pictures were sold to highest bidder on Ebay for $163, there is no excuse for you to degrade the terrible times blacks were going through. You think that food, shelter and clothes is good enough for someone to be happy? You think that they wanted to be cheap labor for some redneck like you? Couple of generations more and this hatred will finally dye with you.

[whatisit21]

I wasn't alive in 1865 and I wasn't alive in 1965. All I have seen in my life time is Blacks pushing Whites around. Always shoving some slave thing around. If you think slavery is bad than you must agree that people forced to work for an hourly wage is also bad. The modern working class is told when to be at work, when they can sleep, and when they can eat. A couple generations from now the upper class may decide to reinstate slavery.

[erasmus111]

by whatisit21 June 13, 2010 5:23 AM EDT
If you think slavery is bad than you must agree that people forced to work for an hourly wage is also bad. The modern working class is told when to be at work, when they can sleep, and when they can eat. A couple generations from now the upper class may decide to reinstate slavery.



Wow. There is only one word to describe you....IDIOT.

[bankersvox]

you mean ?? slave children were found in the attic ?

Rare Slave Children PHOTO Found in NC ATTIC - the photo was found in the attic, not the slave children.

Very confusing and ? HS error.

[erasmus111]

What is confusing about " Rare Photo of Slave Children Found in NC Attic"?

It's says a PHOTO of Slave Children was found in a feakin' attic. How do you come up with the children being found in the attic???

[amrin_7]

Copy and paste this to Ebay's search box: 110541170341

[CincyJazzy]

Wow...Is this a hoax? How can those pictures be on those cards?

[czman11]

very interesting, and in stereo too. Looks like Mr. Morgan spent 50 grand on some kind of scam.

[voxpopulus]

Reading you people trying to play this down, I am ashamed of my country. Sure, it's true people are projecting many feelings on to this image that are not actually there, but to be so in denial of an image of slave children is a disgrace.

[newsterI]

"To me, it's such a moving and astonishing picture," he said.

2 kids sitting down is astonishing?? good grief, there's no proof it's a "slave" picture at all, they look well fed too.
Must be real nice to be able to throw $50,000 away on a photo album and a piece of paper.

[erasmus111]

by newsterI June 12, 2010 8:47 PM EDT
...they look well fed too.


And how the hell could you possibly tell that? Their clothes are very baggy. But if you put your glasses on and take a good look at the boy on the left, his face, neck and chest do not look like they have any meat on them to me. The other kid looks like maybe he has a little more fullness to his face, but not much.

[quotelawrence]

I was sitting with an acquaintance the other day he is Black and from what he said he could be a black muslim, he said the holocaust, never actually happened mimicking a muslim leader but tell a Black person slavery never actually happened, the agenda of one group getting sympathy has reached a never ending peak, we feel so very sad our forefathers tried to use cheap labor to make a living oh yea that is why we have illegal aliens right oh no that is because Mexico is so bad they have to come to America to get a better life, I just met a woman from Sudan and she talked of seeing bodies dead in the street in Mexico better then that I think so, again I say slavery never happened it is just like the Holocaust. false. right.