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Charles Sumner

Charles Sumner
Attribution
Mathew Brady Studio, active 1844 - 1894
Sitter
Charles Sumner, 6 Jan 1811 - 11 Mar 1874
Date
c. 1860-70
Type
Photographic Negative
Medium
Glass plate collodion negative
Dimensions
Plate: 8.8 × 5.9 × 0.2 cm (3 7/16 × 2 5/16 × 1/16")
Topic
Interior
Home Furnishings\Furniture
Printed Material\Book
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Table
Equipment\Walking stick\Cane
Costume\Headgear\Hat\Top hat
Home Furnishings\Curtain
Container\Inkwell
Costume\Dress Accessory\Neckwear\Tie\Necktie
Personal Attribute\Facial Hair\Muttonchops
Charles Sumner: Male
Charles Sumner: Law and Crime\Lawyer
Charles Sumner: Politics and Government\Statesman
Charles Sumner: Education and Scholarship\Educator\Lecturer
Charles Sumner: Politics and Government\US Senator\Massachusetts
Portrait
Place
United States\District of Columbia\Washington
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; Frederick Hill Meserve Collection
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.81.M1470
Exhibition Label
Charles Sumner trained as a lawyer and advocated for public education reform before he became a senator for Massachusetts (1852–74). During his long tenure, Sumner repeatedly voted against pro-slavery measures. In his 1856 speech “The Crime against Kansas,” he denounced the KansasNebraska Act, which allowed settlers to decide whether slavery would be allowed in new territories. Outraged, South Carolina Representative Preston Brooks assaulted him with a cane. Although it took Sumner three years to recover, he remained undeterred in his antislavery efforts. As chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations during the U.S. Civil War (1861–65), he espoused what many considered a radical approach, condemning Britain’s support for the Confederacy.
In 1867, the Freedmen’s Bureau established Barry Farm, an area in Southeast with 359 one-acre plots of land available for purchase by the formerly enslaved. Many of its streets were named for antislavery legislators, including Sumner Road.
Charles Sumner estudió derecho y propugnó una reforma de la educación pública antes de ser senador por Massachusetts (1852–74). Durante su larga carrera votó en contra de medidas que favorecían la esclavitud. En su discurso de 1856 “El crimen contra Kansas”, censuró la Ley Kansas-Nebraska, que permitía a los colonos decidir si se admitiría la esclavitud en los nuevos territorios. Preston Brooks, representante de Carolina del Sur, se enfureció y lo atacó con un bastón. Aunque le tomó tres años recuperarse, Sumner permaneció firme en sus esfuerzos antiesclavistas. Como director del Comité de Relaciones Exteriores durante la Guerra Civil (1861–65), adoptó lo que muchos consideraron un enfoque radical al condenar el apoyo de Gran Bretaña a la Confederación.
En 1867, la Agencia de Libertos estableció Barry Farm, un área en el sureste de la ciudad con 359 parcelas para venta a antiguos esclavos. Muchas de sus calles recibieron el nombre de legisladores antiesclavistas, incluida Sumner Road.
Collection Description
The Frederick Hill Meserve Collection comprises more than five thousand Civil War-era portrait negatives from the Mathew Brady photography studio in New York City. The collection, which the National Portrait Gallery acquired in 1981, includes portraits of generals, politicians, diplomats, painters, and performers. It also contains depictions of “Human Curiosities” at P. T. Barnum’s American Museum in New York City, that, although highly exploitative, help to document the historical representations of disability in the United States.
La Colección Frederick Hill Meserve contiene más de 5,000 negativos de retratos de la época de la Guerra Civil provenientes del estudio fotográfico de Mathew Brady en la ciudad de Nueva York. Adquirida por la National Portrait Gallery en 1981, la colección incluye retratos de militares, políticos, diplomáticos y artistas. También contiene imágenes de “curiosidades humanas” exhibidas en el American Museum de P.T. Barnum en Nueva York. Estas últimas, a pesar de su índole degradante, nos ayudan a documentar la representación histórica de las personas discapacitadas en EE.UU.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view