Emancipated Slaves

In December 1863, a small group of formerly enslaved adults and children from New Orleans embarked on a fundraising campaign to benefit Louisiana’s first free public schools for those recently liberated from bondage. Accompanied by U.S. Army Colonel George H. Hanks and former Assistant Superintendent of Freedmen Philip Bacon, the three adults and five children—several of whom were of mixed racial heritage—traveled to Philadelphia and New York City. In each city, they posed for a series of photographs. The resulting images, including this group portrait, were marketed to the public by the National Freedman’s Relief Association with the assurance that the proceeds would be “devoted exclusively to the education of colored people.”