This is a picture taken at the former J.J. Smith Plantation, near Beaufort, S.C., probably in 1862 or 63. Some captions of the photo indicate that it contains five generations of the same family, but I have never been able to trace the source of this assertion. The names of the individuals and the black family are not known.
When these photos were taken, the Beaufort area in the Sea Islands was occupied by a Union force, which had arrived first on November 7, 1861. The Union navy overwhelmed two confederate coastal forts, and all of the whites in the Beaufort area fled. Many blacks, certainly a substantial majority of the slaves owned by these whites, refused to go with them. In the ensuing weeks and months more fugitive blacks from plantations outside the area of Union military control also moved into the area.
The Beaufort area remained under Union control for the rest of the war. It became the place of the so called Port Royal Experiment, the first society in which formerly enslaved blacks and northern whites had to live along side. It's a fascinating story, which I can't begin to summarize here. A good book on the subject is Willie Lee Rose, The Port Royal Experiment.
There are several other photos of the Smith plantation and more of the Beaufort area during this period. Google J J Smith Plantation Beaufort Civil War and you will get lots of results.
The photos are all posed to one degree or another, but you can see the individual faces of many former slaves. They are people poised on the edge of a great unknown, and most of the faces are sombre, or at least that is how I see them. It is quite a record.
This is a picture taken at the former J.J. Smith Plantation, near Beaufort, S.C., probably in 1862 or 63. Some captions of the photo indicate that it contains five generations of the same family, but I have never been able to trace the source of this assertion. The names of the individuals and the black family are not known.
ReplyDeleteWhen these photos were taken, the Beaufort area in the Sea Islands was occupied by a Union force, which had arrived first on November 7, 1861. The Union navy overwhelmed two confederate coastal forts, and all of the whites in the Beaufort area fled. Many blacks, certainly a substantial majority of the slaves owned by these whites, refused to go with them. In the ensuing weeks and months more fugitive blacks from plantations outside the area of Union military control also moved into the area.
The Beaufort area remained under Union control for the rest of the war. It became the place of the so called Port Royal Experiment, the first society in which formerly enslaved blacks and northern whites had to live along side. It's a fascinating story, which I can't begin to summarize here. A good book on the subject is Willie Lee Rose, The Port Royal Experiment.
There are several other photos of the Smith plantation and more of the Beaufort area during this period. Google J J Smith Plantation Beaufort Civil War and you will get lots of results.
The photos are all posed to one degree or another, but you can see the individual faces of many former slaves. They are people poised on the edge of a great unknown, and most of the faces are sombre, or at least that is how I see them. It is quite a record.
First sentence of last paragraph should read:
ReplyDelete"The people in the photos are all poised . . .