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Mother and Child

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Mother and Child

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Title	Mother and Child
Alternate Title	Portrait of African American Woman and Boy
Date	circa 1865
Genre	Photographs
Material/Technique	daguerrotype
Description	This formal studio portrait depicts a well-dressed young African American woman seated in a carved wood gothic chair with a boy about 8-10 years old standing to her left and resting his right arm on her shoulder. The woman is fashionably dressed in fitted gown with black ribbon tie at the collar and embroidered bolero-type jacket. The boy wears a double-breasted wood or cotton homespun suit and collarless white shirt.
Historical note	This photograph, likely taken in Memphis soon after the Civil War, may depict former a formerly enslaved young woman and her young son. Both wear serious expressions, and she holds what appears to be a bible in her lap. Commissioning a formal portrait like this one represents the transition into a society free from slavery.
Subject	African Americans; Women; Children; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--African Americans
Theme	Making Music Building a Future
Story	Jubilee Singers McKissacks
Geographic Location	United States--Tennessee--Memphis
Time period	1860-1869
Language	eng
Rights	Images reproduced on this website are intended for individual, educational use only. For research inquiries about specific objects or requests for high resolution images, contact the Pink Palace Museum
Type	Still image
Format	image/jpg
Contributing Institution	Pink Palace Family of Museums
Digital Publisher	Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
Archival file	shades3/shades_ppm_0005.jpg