Name/Title
Portrait Album Page Featuring Formerly Enslaved ChildrenDescription
This is a historical photographic album page featuring four individual portraits of young children. The most prominent image, located in the lower-left corner, is labeled with the name FaAnnie Virginia Casseopia Lawrence and describes her as a "formerly enslaved child." The detailed caption below suggests she was rescued from slavery and educated in Brooklyn. The carte de visite showing Lawrence was published and widely circulated by northern abolitionists in 1863, during the Civil War. The other three images show young children posed in formal settings, sitting on ornate chairs or against decorative backgrounds, likely from the same or similar historical context. The album page is adorned with a decorative border and designated slots for each photograph.Context
This photograph album page is an example of the visual documentation of African American children during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. The presence of a formerly enslaved child highlights the broader historical context of the abolition of slavery and the subsequent efforts to integrate and educate African Americans, particularly children. Many abolitionists and missionary groups focused on the welfare and upliftment of children who had been freed from slavery, often featuring them in photographs for fundraising and awareness campaigns. The formal presentation of the portraits suggests they were taken in a professional photography studio, possibly to commemorate the children’s transition from enslavement to freedom. The fact that Lewis Latimer’s parents, George and Rebecca Latimer, were themselves refugees from slavery makes these Civil War-era photographs personally significant.Collection
The Lewis H. Latimer Papers (1870-1929, 1972) [QPL Subgroup], Latimer Family Papers (1870-1996 ) [QPL Full Collection]Inscription/Signature/Marks
Transcription
"ANNIE VIRGINIA CASEOSPIA LAWRENCE
A Rescued SLAVE CHILD. 5 years of age. Rescued in Richmond, Va., Educated in Brooklyn, L. I."