The Contraband, the Recruit, and the Veteran

  • Creator: Thomas Waterman Wood
  • Title: The Contraband, the Recruit, and the Veteran
  • Date: 1867
  • Description: Based on the titles, these three images of an African American man portray him as a contraband in ragged clothes, as a recruit with a new uniform and gun over his shoulder, and as a wounded veteran.
  • Historical Note: Reproduced in Harper's Weekly on May 4, 1867, these photographs taken by Rockwood (?) are of three paintings on display at the National Academy of Design in New York. Artist Thomas Waterman Wood (1823-1903) painted them from studies taken in Nashville, Tennessee, where Wood lived prior to the Civil War. This triptych, entitled "A Bit of War History," was painted in 1866. Now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it shows the progression of an African American ex-slave from his enlistment in the Union army to his return as a wounded veteran.
  • Institution: HarpWeek
  • Rights: Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
  • URL: http://cdm15838.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/shades
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