test essays page tables


Martin A. Berger White Suffering and the Branded Hand	Erina Duganne Black Civil War Portraiture in Context	Shawn Michelle Smith A Spirit Photograph
This essay analyzes the social and racial significance of an unusual mid-nineteenth-century daguerreotype of a white abolitionist’s branded hand.	An investigation into the kinds of meanings that photographic portraits of black Civil War soldiers had at the time of their making as well as some of the challenges that such a recovery poses for historians today.	An analysis of a “spirit photograph,” a form of photography thought to bridge this world and the next.

Gregory Fried True Pictures”: Frederick Douglass on the Promise of Photography	Joan Gage A White Slave Girl: “Mulato Raised by Charles Sumner	Molly Rogers Fair Women Are Transformed into Negresses
This essay explores the ideas of Frederick Douglass on the revolutionary significance of photography for the cause of abolishing slavery and for advancing human equality.	A narrative of discovery about one of the first photographs used to promote the abolitionist cause.	A meditation on writing about oppressed individuals photographed for scientific purposes, and whether it is possible to liberate such people through an act of imagination.


Carol Goodman As White as Their Masters”: Visualizing the Color Line	Maria Helena PT Machado, Flávio dos Santos Gomes, John M. Monteiro Three Essays on Agassiz in Brazil	Molly Rogers Louis Agassiz: Full Face and Profile
A discussion of the ambiguity of the color line in 19th century visual representations of race.	This series of essays explores an important but little-known collection of ethnographic photographs made by the Swiss-American naturalist Louis Agassiz during an expedition to Brazil in 1865–66.	A biographical approach to photographs of slaves, considering the images in relation to the personal and professional attitudes of the naturalist who commissioned them.

Gregory Fried A Freakish Whiteness: The Circassian Lady and the Caucasian Fantasy	Dominique Zino On Seeing and Writing Together: An introduction to a multi-media, collaborative writing project
What is the meaning of mid-19th century portraits of white women with strange names, exotic costumes, and wildly frizzed hair?	This collaborative essay by a professor and her students in a college writing course demonstrates how the images in the Mirror of Race exhibition may be used to teach research and reflection on the meaning of race in American history and culture.

Martin A. Berger

Erina Duganne

Shawn Michelle Smith

This essay ana­lyzes the social and racial sig­nif­i­cance of an unusual mid-nineteenth-century daguerreo­type of a white abolitionist’s branded hand.

An inves­ti­ga­tion into the kinds of mean­ings that pho­to­graphic por­traits of black Civil War sol­diers had at the time of their mak­ing as well as some of the chal­lenges that such a recov­ery poses for his­to­ri­ans today.

An analy­sis of a “spirit pho­to­graph,” a form of pho­tog­ra­phy thought to bridge this world and the next.

Gregory Fried

Joan Gage

Molly Rogers

This essay explores the ideas of Fred­er­ick Dou­glass on the rev­o­lu­tion­ary sig­nif­i­cance of pho­tog­ra­phy for the cause of abol­ish­ing slav­ery and for advanc­ing human equality.

A nar­ra­tive of dis­cov­ery about one of the first pho­tographs used to pro­mote the abo­li­tion­ist cause.

Carol Goodman

Maria Helena PT Machado, Flávio dos San­tos Gomes, John M. Mon­teiro

Molly Rogers

A dis­cus­sion of the ambi­gu­ity of the color line in 19th cen­tury visual rep­re­sen­ta­tions of race.

This series of essays explores an impor­tant but little-known col­lec­tion of ethno­graphic pho­tographs made by the Swiss-American nat­u­ral­ist Louis Agas­siz dur­ing an expe­di­tion to Brazil in 1865–66.

A bio­graph­i­cal approach to pho­tographs of slaves, con­sid­er­ing the images in rela­tion to the per­sonal and pro­fes­sional atti­tudes of the nat­u­ral­ist who com­mis­sioned them.

Gre­gory Fried

Dominique Zino

What is the mean­ing of mid-19th cen­tury por­traits of white women with strange names, exotic cos­tumes, and wildly frizzed hair?

This col­lab­o­ra­tive essay by a pro­fes­sor and her stu­dents in a col­lege writ­ing course demon­strates how the images in the Mir­ror of Race exhi­bi­tion may be used to teach research and reflec­tion on the mean­ing of race in Amer­i­can his­tory and culture.

This essay analyzes the social and racial significance of an unusual mid-nineteenth-century daguerreotype of a white abolitionist’s branded hand.

An investigation into the kinds of meanings that photographic portraits of black Civil War soldiers had at the time of their making as well as some of the challenges that such a recovery poses for historians today.

An analysis of a “spirit photograph,” a form of photography thought to bridge this world and the next.

This essay explores the ideas of Frederick Douglass on the revolutionary significance of photography for the cause of abolishing slavery and for advancing human equality.

A narrative of discovery about one of the first photographs used to promote the abolitionist cause.

Maria Helena PT Machado, Flávio dos Santos Gomes, John M. Monteiro

A discussion of the ambiguity of the color line in 19th century visual representations of race.

This series of essays explores an important but little-known collection of ethnographic photographs made by the Swiss-American naturalist Louis Agassiz during an expedition to Brazil in 1865–66.

A biographical approach to photographs of slaves, considering the images in relation to the personal and professional attitudes of the naturalist who commissioned them.

Gregory Fried

What is the meaning of mid-19th century portraits of white women with strange names, exotic costumes, and wildly frizzed hair?

This collaborative essay by a professor and her students in a college writing course demonstrates how the images in the Mirror of Race exhibition may be used to teach research and reflection on the meaning of race in American history and culture.