Photographs and stories that changed the world

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1860s

The Black Rugrats

The Gold Dust Twins advertising campaign used caricatured Black children to sell cleaning products, which reinforced racist stereotypes and white nostalgic myths of Black servitude in the 20th-century United States.

Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784). Portrait of American poet seated at a desk writing with a quill pen. Undated hand-tinted color engraving with an original caption which reads: "Phillis Wheatley, Negro servant to Mr. John Wheatley, of Boston."

Picturing Early Black Women Leaders

From Phillis Wheatley Peters to Ida B. Wells-Barnett, leading Black women activists defined their public images through their portraits to advance their ideas.

MORNING MUSTERING OF THE 'CONTRABAND' AT FORTRESS MONROE, ON THEIR WAY TO THEIR DAY'S WORK, UNDER THE PAY AND DIRECTION OF THE U.S

Journey to Freedom

Enslaved refugees sought freedom in Union contraband camps during the American Civil War.