“Intelligent Contrabands” [manuscript title]. [Two escaped slaves in Louisiana].

[Baton Rouge?, Louisiana, circa 1862]. Carte-de-visite photograph (albumen print), 3.5” x 2.1875” plus mount.

One of a series of photographs of escaped slaves taken by McPherson & Oliver in Louisiana during the Union occupation, likely in Baton Rouge where many slaves came to the Union line following the occupation in May of 1862. Pictured are two African American men in what appears to be a makeshift studio with a hanging sheet for a backdrop and bare ground. The men are dressed in rags, one of them barefoot. A noxious period inscription, meant to cast the photo as a satire, reads “Intelligent Contrabands.” Other examples of contraband cdvs carrying similar inscriptions are known, one of which features a man wearing an ape mask.

Although lacking a photographer’s credit, this image is known to be the work of Louisiana photographers William D. McPherson (?—1867) and one Mr. Oliver (first name and dates unknown). Operating in both New Orleans and Baton Rouge, McPherson and Oliver adapted readily to the Union occupation, obtaining their photography supplies through the military, and photographing the siege of Port Hudson in 1863, including the captured Confederate fortifications, as well as the captured Fort Morgan at Mobile Bay, Alabama. Their most famous photograph, known variously as “The Scourged Back” and “Whipped Peter,” pictures a slave named Gordon seated with his shirt off, showing the scars on his back, which was circulated in the north by abolitionists to bolster support for the War effort.

REFERENCES: Photographers of the American Civil War at wikipedia.org.

CONDITION: Strong tonality, small loss to upper left corner, small remnants of tape on verso, later number stamped in ink and a few pencil notes on verso.