Fannie Virginia Casseopia Lawrence, a redeemed slave child, five years of age as she appeared when found in slavery. Redeemed in Virginia by Catharine [i.e., Catherine] S. Lawrence; baptized in Brooklyn, at Plymouth Church by Henry Ward Beecher, May 1863 / photographed by Kellogg Brothers, 279 Main Street, Hartford Conn.
Fannie was one of the most photographed of “slave children” used as propaganda by abolitionists during the civil war. Despite her light color, she was considered black because of mixed black.white ancestry. Fannie was considered an “octoroon”as someone who was of 1/8 black ancestry.
Henry Ward Beecher, of course, was one of the leading abolitionist spokesmen in the U. S., a preacher and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Civil War Portrait 028
