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Museum object · Slavery and Freedom Objects

Square brick made by an enslaved person

before 1863

Saint Martinville, Louisiana, United States, North and Central America

COLLECTION RECORDImage not availableExplore the catalog description and source record.
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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 square brick, made by an enslaved person, from an unknown architectural structure in St. Martinsville, Louisiana. It is a solid style, press molded brick with scrape marks on the back. The brick is reddish brown in color with worn surfaces. The brick has significant losses on three edges and one face giving the brick a right trapezoidal profile. The Old Slave Mart Museum catalog number, [R164], is handwritten in black ink over a small rectangular patch of white paint along center of the brick’s damaged face. At the center of the same face is a heel-shaped impression. The other brick face is a brighter red color with small patches of grayish-white mortar on the surface.

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: 2017.108.21.15

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