Picturing Black History

Photographs and stories that changed the world

A collaboration of and

American Civil War

Florida-Prisoners in a chain gang building a road. Undated photograph.

Convict Leasing After Slavery

Slavery ended in 1865. But many Black Southerners remained unfree laborers under the convict leasing system.

Leaning on a porch rail, waiting for their turn at morning exercises are (l-r): 2nd Lts. Joan L. Hamilton, Marjorie S. Mayers, Prudence L. Burnes, and Inez E. Holmes. All are military nurses training to be sent to advanced posts on the Southwest Pacific.

The Integration of the American Military

Hoping to court Black voters in the 1948 Presidential election, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981, an act that significantly changed the armed forces and the Black experience in America.

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.

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