Description

Antislavery print celebrating the moment freedom seeker Henry Box Brown emerged from his crate in Philadelphia. Brown, with the assistance of the Vigilance Committee of the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society, escaped slavery by having himself shipped to Philadelphia where he emerged in the presence of abolitionists Professor Charles D. Cleveland, J. Miller M'Kim, William Still, and printer Lewis Thompson. Depicts Brown just emerging from his box with Still holding the crate's lid labeled, "Wm. Johnson, Arch St. Philadelphia, This side up with Care;" Cleveland with a saw in his right hand; M'Kim with a hatchet in one hand and using his other hand to help Still hold the lid; and Thompson pointing to Brown with his right hand as he holds in his free hand a walking stick.; Kramer, del.; Title from item.; Date inferred from variant described in Reilly and LCP copy described by Jeffrey Ruggles, The unboxing of Henry Box Brown (Richmond: The Library of Virginia, 2003), 114. Ruggles notes copies of the print had been received and advertised by the "Anti-Slavery Bugle" of Ohio before March 8, 1851.; Variant reproduced in William Still, The underground railroad (1872) p.70. [LCP Am 1872 Still, 56405.O].; Kramer was a German born painter and lithographer who worked with the Rosenthals, a prominent Philadelphia family of lithographers, by 1850 and through the early 1850s.

Record Contributed By

The Library Company of Philadelphia

Record Harvested From

PA Digital