Laura Smith Haviland
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Object Details
- Artist
- Unidentified Artist
- Sitter
- Laura Smith Haviland, 20 Dec 1808 - 20 Apr 1898
- Exhibition Label
- Born Leeds County, Ontario, Canada
- A Quaker and an abolitionist, Laura Smith Haviland played a critical role in organizing the first antislavery society in the Michigan Territory in 1832. After an epidemic claimed the lives of her husband, parents, sister, and youngest child in 1845, Haviland immersed herself in antislavery initiatives and performed missionary work among African Americans in both slave and free states. As an operative on the Underground Railroad, she made countless trips through Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan to aid fugitives on their perilous journey to freedom in Canada.
- During the Civil War, Haviland provided nursing care to wounded Union soldiers. She also served as an agent of the Michigan Freedmen’s Association (1864–66) and traveled widely throughout the South, giving much-needed assistance to the region’s newly emancipated populace. In an effort to document slavery’s brutality, Haviland posed for this photograph holding the iron shackles and restraints she found on a Louisiana plantation.
- Nacida en Leeds County, Ontario, Canadá
- Laura Smith Haviland, cuáquera y abolicionista, tuvo un rol crucial en la creación de la primera sociedad antiesclavista del Territorio de Michigan en 1832. Luego de que una epidemia causara la muerte de su esposo, padres, hermana e hijo menor en 1845, Haviland se enfrascó en actividades antiesclavistas e hizo labor misionera entre los afroamericanos, tanto en estados esclavistas como libres. Fue agente del Ferrocarril Subterráneo y atravesó incontables veces Ohio, Indiana y Michigan ayudando a los fugitivos en su peligroso viaje hacia la libertad en Canadá.
- Durante la Guerra Civil, Haviland prestó cuidados a los soldados heridos de la Unión. También fue agente de la Asociación de Libertos de Michigan (1864–66) y viajó por el sur para ofrecer una muy necesaria ayuda a la población recién emancipada. Con fines de documentar la crueldad de la esclavitud, Haviland posó para esta fotografía sosteniendo ataduras y grilletes de hierro que encontró en una plantación de Luisiana.
- Credit Line
- National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
- c. 1864
- Object number
- NPG.98.49
- Restrictions & Rights
- CC0
- Type
- Photograph
- Medium
- Albumen silver print
- Dimensions
- Image/Sheet: 9.4 x 5.4 cm. (3 11/16 x 2 1/8")
- Mount: 10 x 6 cm. (3 15/16 x 2 3/8")
- See more items in
- National Portrait Gallery Collection
- Location
- Currently not on view
- National Portrait Gallery
- Topic
- Interior
- Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair\Armchair
- Costume\Headgear\Hat\Bonnet
- Laura Smith Haviland: Female
- Laura Smith Haviland: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Abolitionist
- Laura Smith Haviland: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist\Suffragist
- Laura Smith Haviland: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Temperance
- Laura Smith Haviland: Religion and Spirituality\Preacher\Evangelist
- Portrait
- Record ID
- npg_NPG.98.49
- Metadata Usage (text)
- CC0
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm498606bdb-32a5-463c-bf0f-8348961d1c61
This image is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Open Access page.
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