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Laura Smith Haviland

Laura Smith Haviland
Artist
Unidentified Artist
Sitter
Laura Smith Haviland, 20 Dec 1808 - 20 Apr 1898
Date
c. 1864
Type
Photograph
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 9.4 x 5.4 cm. (3 11/16 x 2 1/8")
Mount: 10 x 6 cm. (3 15/16 x 2 3/8")
Topic
Interior
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Seating\Chair\Armchair
Costume\Headgear\Hat\Bonnet
Laura Smith Haviland: Female
Laura Smith Haviland: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Abolitionist
Laura Smith Haviland: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist\Suffragist
Laura Smith Haviland: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Temperance
Laura Smith Haviland: Religion and Spirituality\Preacher\Evangelist
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.98.49
Exhibition Label
Born Leeds County, Ontario, Canada
A Quaker and an abolitionist, Laura Smith Haviland played a critical role in organizing the first antislavery society in the Michigan Territory in 1832. After an epidemic claimed the lives of her husband, parents, sister, and youngest child in 1845, Haviland immersed herself in antislavery initiatives and performed missionary work among African Americans in both slave and free states. As an operative on the Underground Railroad, she made countless trips through Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan to aid fugitives on their perilous journey to freedom in Canada.
During the Civil War, Haviland provided nursing care to wounded Union soldiers. She also served as an agent of the Michigan Freedmen’s Association (1864–66) and traveled widely throughout the South, giving much-needed assistance to the region’s newly emancipated populace. In an effort to document slavery’s brutality, Haviland posed for this photograph holding the iron shackles and restraints she found on a Louisiana plantation.
Nacida en Leeds County, Ontario, Canadá
Laura Smith Haviland, cuáquera y abolicionista, tuvo un rol crucial en la creación de la primera sociedad antiesclavista del Territorio de Michigan en 1832. Luego de que una epidemia causara la muerte de su esposo, padres, hermana e hijo menor en 1845, Haviland se enfrascó en actividades antiesclavistas e hizo labor misionera entre los afroamericanos, tanto en estados esclavistas como libres. Fue agente del Ferrocarril Subterráneo y atravesó incontables veces Ohio, Indiana y Michigan ayudando a los fugitivos en su peligroso viaje hacia la libertad en Canadá.
Durante la Guerra Civil, Haviland prestó cuidados a los soldados heridos de la Unión. También fue agente de la Asociación de Libertos de Michigan (1864–66) y viajó por el sur para ofrecer una muy necesaria ayuda a la población recién emancipada. Con fines de documentar la crueldad de la esclavitud, Haviland posó para esta fotografía sosteniendo ataduras y grilletes de hierro que encontró en una plantación de Luisiana.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view