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Museum object · Visual Arts

The Fugitive's Story

1869

New York, United States, North and Central America

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Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A cast and painted plaster statuette depicting the figure of an unidentified fugitive enslaved woman holding a baby and standing in front of three men. She wears a scarf over her head, and a shawl around her shoulders. There is a tied bundle on the floor next to her bare feet. The men are identified as John G. Whittier, H. W. Beecher and William Lloyd Garrison. Garrison is seated at a desk, facing the woman and baby, and appears in profile to the viewer. Whittier and Beecher are standing next to the desk, facing the viewer. The figures stand on an oval pedestal, the front of which is carved [THE FUGITIVE'S STORY / JOHN G. WHITTIER HW BEECHER Wm. LLOYD GARRISON]. On the top front of the pedestal is [JOHN ROGERS / NEW YORK].

Sources & collection details

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗

Source collection ↗

Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

Catalog reference: 2011.155.290

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