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Ezra Greenleaf Weld
Frederick Douglass at Fugitive Slave Law Convention, Cazenovia, New York
1850
Daguerreotype
11.2 x 9.8 cm (4 7/16 x 3 7/8 ins) (image) 15.2 x 24.4 x 1.3 cm (6 x 9 5/8 x 1/2 ins) (case open)
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Current Owner: Mr. & Mrs. Set Charles Momjian, Object number: L/NPG.19.95
LL/68725
Exhibition Label (August 2016)
In 1850, as Congress considered passage of a harsh new Fugitive Slave Law, more than 2,000 people heeded the call of abolitionist Gerrit Smith (standing, center) to meet in Cazenovia, New York, and protest the impending legislation. Among the nearly fifty escaped slaves to participate were Emily and Mary Edmonson (in plaid shawls), whose freedom had been purchased by abolitionists in 1848, and Frederick Douglass (seated, center right), who served as the convention's presiding officer. On the gathering's second day, the overflowing crowd moved from its initial meeting place in a church to a nearby orchard. There, a local daguerreotypist made this extraordinary record of the convention.
Sitter
Frederick Douglass, Feb 1818 - 20 Feb 1895
Gerrit Smith, 6 Mar 1797 - 28 Dec 1874
Emily Edmonson, 1835 - 1895
Mary Edmonson, 1832 - 1853
Theodosia Gilbert Chaplin, 1819 - 1855
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