Albumen print of enslaved women and their children near Alexandria, Virginia

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

An albumen print on paper with a purple, reddish-brown hue depicting two adult women and seven children pictured, from left to right: William, Lucinda, Fannie (seated on Lucinda's lap), Mary (in cradle), Frances (standing), Martha, Julia (behind Martha), Harriet, and Charles or Marshall. Lucinda Hughes and Frances Hughes were sisters-in-law through Frances's husband David. The group is posed outside in front of bare trees, one woman is posed as if ironing. Baskets and a dog or doll house are placed around the group. The women and their children were enslaved at the time this photograph was taken on a plantation just west of Alexandria, Virginia, that belonged to Felix Richards. Frances and her children were enslaved by Felix, while Lucinda and her children were enslaved by his wife, Amelia Macrae Richards. On the recto, an inscription is written in pencil on the paper mount below the image that reads: "Felix Richards slaves".

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