Write It! - Day 7 | Free Blacks in 1837 Philadelphia

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Day 7 Black History Month Write It! Series Photo of the Day!


Titled Philadelphia Fashions, 1837 the etching features a lovely couple of Free People of Color. However, this photo is more than meets the eye.


On the surface, the image appears to be harmless, quite beautiful actually. However, once inspected you realize that the artist used stereotypical language to degrade the couple in the etching. This image was a part of an entire series dedicated to mocking the dress and social aspirations of free blacks.


I strongly believe that film and television can be used as a corrective force to past caricatures.


Additional Information

Zoom In - https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/digitool%3A130193

http://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/cartoons-and-cartoonists/28814_ca_object_representations_media_93164_mediumlarge/

http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/gallclayf.html
Andrew Diemer Article - http://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/archive/free-black-communities/

Image - https://goo.gl/qkctpa

Picture Freedom: Remaking Black Visuality in the Early Nineteenth Century https://goo.gl/jht2Sp

Young America: Childhood in 19th-century Art and Culture https://goo.gl/kKfeia

Address to FPoc https://glc.yale.edu/address-delivered-free-people-color-june-1831

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