A Ride For Liberty - The Fugitive Slaves
Dublin Core
Title
A Ride For Liberty - The Fugitive Slaves
Date
1862
Description
This painting depicts a man, woman, and child riding on a single horse. The man looks forward while the woman turns to look behind them. The scene is early morning light before sunrise. On the back of the painting is an inscription by the artist: “A veritible [sic] incident in the civil war seen by myself at Centerville on this morning of McClellan’s advance towards Manassas, March 2, 1862, Eastman Johnson.”
In the Spring of 1862 Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston ordered the evacuation of the lines his army had held since the summer of 1861, including his headquarters and the fortifications surrounding Centreville. Union troops moved in on the heels of the retreating Confederates. Photographers, newspaper correspondents, and artist Eastman Johnson were among those traveling with the advancing Federal soldiers. Noted in many press reports and here immortalized by Eastman’s painting were the many “contrabands,” people fleeing slavery.
As Donna Ray notes in her discussion, “A Ride for Liberty would become one of his most renowned works, in part because it illuminates a historical problem that still addresses the way we teach a pivotal moment in U.S. history: Did Lincoln free the slaves—or did the slaves free themselves?”
In the Spring of 1862 Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston ordered the evacuation of the lines his army had held since the summer of 1861, including his headquarters and the fortifications surrounding Centreville. Union troops moved in on the heels of the retreating Confederates. Photographers, newspaper correspondents, and artist Eastman Johnson were among those traveling with the advancing Federal soldiers. Noted in many press reports and here immortalized by Eastman’s painting were the many “contrabands,” people fleeing slavery.
As Donna Ray notes in her discussion, “A Ride for Liberty would become one of his most renowned works, in part because it illuminates a historical problem that still addresses the way we teach a pivotal moment in U.S. history: Did Lincoln free the slaves—or did the slaves free themselves?”
Source
Eastman Johnson, A Ride for Liberty—The Fugitive Slaves, c. 1862. Donna Thompson Ray, The Graduate Center, City University of New York Picturing History website: https://picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu/eastman-johnson-a-ride-for-liberty-the-fugitive-slaves-c-1862/
#Curate This: Day Two. Virginia Museum of the Fine Arts Tumblr website: https://vmfaeducation.tumblr.com/post/153904300436/curate-this-day-two-in-1862-eastman- johnson/amp
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Image Painting
Citation
“A Ride For Liberty - The Fugitive Slaves,” Fairfax County African American History Inventory, accessed September 16, 2024, https://fairfaxaahi.centerformasonslegacies.com/items/show/148.