Abolition

Representations of Black Womanhood in the Anti-Slavery Movement

From Re-Presenting Black Womanhood

The painting depicts a large columned room opening up to a grassy landscape in the right background. In the left foreground, there is a light-skinned blonde woman dressed in a long white robe, looking to the right. She is surrounded by a clutter of objects, such as a bust, globe, harp, and painter’s palate. She balances a pole in her right arm and is offering three books towards the figures on the right. There are broken chains beneath her feet. There are four figures coming into the painting from the right side. They are dark-skinned, dressed in colorful but simple clothing, and are kneeling to the blonde woman. The two in the foreground are men, behind them is a woman wrapping her arm around a little girl. In the right background, there are several dark-skinned figures dancing around a maypole, playing musical instruments, and picnicking. The setting and landscape are peaceful.

Black women held important roles in the abolition movement, or the movement to end slavery. However, they had limited control over their own representation. The imagery and objects used to promote abolition, often funded and designed by white activists, commonly reinforced a diminished view of Black women as “pitied” or in need of “saving.”

Please note that this exhibition contains content associated with difficult histories and historical trauma.

Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral 

Phillis Wheatley, 1773

Poems was the first book of poetry published by an African American woman. Wheatley's sophisticated writing surpassed the expectations of her oppressors, including her enslaver, Boston Congregationalist John Wheatley. The engraved portrait of Wheatley in the frontispiece of the book, which depicts her like European authors of the time, emphasizes her genius, authenticity, and authorship.

"In every human Breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; it is impatient of Oppression, and pants for Deliverance.
Phillis Wheatley

The pen and paper in the portrait of Phillis Wheatley shows her role as a writer. What would you choose to hold if someone painted your portrait?

Oval-shaped, black and white engraved portrait of Phillis Wheatley. Dark-skinned woman sits at a desk with a thoughtful expression on her face. She is facing the left and is wearing a white cap and a Colonial-era dress. Her left hand supports her chin, and her right hand is holding a quill pen. The desk holds a piece of paper that she is writing on, along with an inkwell and a book in the foreground. The edge of the portrait reads Phillis Wheatley, Negro Servant to Mr. John Wheatley of Boston.

Yellow-gold stone shaped like an octagon with a figure of a woman carved into it. The figure is kneeling, looking up towards the left with her hands clasped. She has very short hair and a tunic wrapped around her waist. The words AM I NOT A WOMAN AND A SISTER are carved in reverse around the edge of the seal.
Red wax seal created using a seal shaped like an octagon with a figure of a woman carved into it. The figure is kneeling, looking up towards the right with her hands clasped. She has very short hair and a tunic wrapped around her waist. The words AM I NOT A WOMAN AND A SISTER are around the edge of the seal.

Seal

Unknown maker, 1820-40

Reading “AM I NOT A WOMAN AND A SISTER” in reverse, this seal could be worn as a piece of jewelry or used to close a letter with wax. But who was this bauble for? Reflecting female abolitionists’ efforts for the cause, this is an image of a Black woman created by white activists primarily for white audiences. Despite its anti-slavery message, situating the enslaved Black woman in a kneeling position signifies submission instead of resistance in relation to the assumed white wearer.

Compare the image of Phillis Wheatley to that of the woman on the seal. How did these artists communicate a message with these images?

Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences

Samuel Jennings, 1792

Jennings’s allegorical painting is an early artwork promoting the abolition of American slavery. The woman on the right stares slightly upwards with hard-set eyes. She is a mother—her right arm wraps around the young child in front of her, who reaches out a pair of shackled wrists. Within this scene lies the paradox of early abolitionist movements: How could freedom be “given” back by the same people who took it away?

Painting depicts a large columned room opening up to a grassy landscape in the right background. In the left foreground, there is a light-skinned blonde woman dressed in a long white robe, looking to the right. She is surrounded by a clutter of objects, such as a bust, globe, harp, and painter’s palate. She balances a pole in her right arm and is offering three books towards the figures on the right. There are broken chains beneath her feet. Four dark-skinned figures on the right side are dressed in colorful but simple clothing, and are kneeling before the blonde woman. The two in the foreground are men, behind them is a woman wrapping her arm around a little girl. In the right background, there are several dark-skinned figures dancing around a maypole, playing musical instruments, and picnicking. The setting and landscape are peaceful.
Image of newspaper advertisement with black print.

Advertisement

National Intelligencer, Washington D.C., April 25, 1815

Mary, an enslaved woman seeking freedom, appeared among tavern and estate advertisements when John C. Thompson listed a description of her body as a “handsome negro, about 24 years of age.” Mary’s labor scars and malnutrition are the only ways her enslaver chose to represent her, besides calling her “former property.” How would Mary describe herself? Did Mary finally find freedom with her husband in Baltimore or with her mother some 50 miles away in Frederick, Maryland?

This exhibition is presented by Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library. To learn more, visit www.winterthur.org.

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