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Nathaniel Prentiss Banks

Nathaniel Prentiss Banks
Artist
Mathew Brady Studio, active 1844 - 1894
Sitter
Nathaniel Prentice Banks, 30 Jan 1816 - 01 Sep 1894
Date
c. 1864
Type
Photograph
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 8.5 × 5.2 cm (3 3/8 × 2 1/16")
Mount: 10 × 6.2 cm (3 15/16 × 2 7/16")
Mat: 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14")
Topic
Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Mustache
Photographic format\Carte-de-visite
Costume\Dress Accessory\Button
Interior\Studio\Photography
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Male
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Law and Crime\Lawyer
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Massachusetts
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Politics and Government\Governor\Massachusetts
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\General
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Politics and Government\US Congressman\Speaker of the House
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Business and Finance\Businessperson\Business executive\Railroad executive
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Military and Intelligence\Army\Officer\Civil War\Union Army
Nathaniel Prentice Banks: Politics and Government\State Legislator\Massachusetts
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.79.246.49
Exhibition Label
Born Waltham, Massachusetts
As commander of the Department of the Gulf (1862–64), Union army general Nathaniel Banks established the first public schools for the freed people of Louisiana. Prior to October 1863, no such schools existed. Yet by March 1864—when Banks created a Board of Education for Freedmen—seven schools were operating with twenty-three teachers and an average attendance of 1,422 students. Nine months later, the number of schools had grown to ninety-five, with 162 teachers and 9,571 pupils.
Banks regarded the education of formerly enslaved individuals as critical to maintaining social order in Louisiana. A report issued by the Board of Education in 1864 declared, “If [the] liberated population is to remain among us, as they surely will, by their right, and our need, then it is in the interest of the State, and of society, that they should not be kept in ignorance.”
Nacido en Waltham, Massachusetts
Siendo comandante del Departamento del Golfo (1862–64), Nathaniel Banks, general del ejército de la Unión, estableció las primeras escuelas públicas para las personas liberadas de Luisiana. Antes de octubre de 1863 no existía ninguna de ese tipo, pero para marzo de 1864, cuando Banks creó una Junta de Educación para Libertos, ya estaban en función siete escuelas con 23 maestros y una asistencia promedio de 1,422 estudiantes. Nueve meses después, ya había 95 escuelas, con 162 maestros y 9,571 alumnos.
Banks pensaba que la educación de los antiguos esclavizados era crucial para mantener el orden social en Luisiana. En 1864 la Junta de Educación expresó en un informe: “Si la población liberada ha de permanecer entre nosotros, como seguramente será, por derecho propio y necesidad nuestra, entonces lo mejor para el Estado, y la sociedad, es que no se les mantenga en la ignorancia”.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900
On View
NPG, East Gallery 111