How Anti-Slavery Activists Marketed Their Cause

At a small but fascinating exhibit at the Boston Athenaeum, I learned that 19th century abolitionists used some of the same marketing tactics employed by today's social justice activists.

The exhibit showcased photo albums owned by anti-slavery activist, Harriet Hayden. She and her husband, Lewis Hayden, escaped from slavery and settled on Boston’s Beacon Hill. The Haydens were abolitionist leaders who played a key role in the Underground Railroad.

The albums displayed small photographic calling cards (2.5 x 4 inches), called a “carte de visite,” that people would send to friends and relatives. Printing a carte de visite was relatively inexpensive; the photos on the cards served as the selfies of the 1850s and 1860s.

Free Black people embraced the idea of posing for these photos, carefully planning what to wear and how to sit for the photographer. The exhibit quotes Frederick Douglass' observation that "Poets, prophets, and reformers are all picture makers." Douglass, the most photographed man of his century, understood the power of an image.

Activists like Douglass and Sojourner Truth sold their portraits to raise funds for their work. Truth captioned the photo below, "I sell the shadow to support the substance." She, too, was a savvy marketer.

In addition to photo albums, the exhibit displayed artifacts like the purse at the top of this post. White abolitionists used objects like these to raise awareness and funds for anti-slavery work.

The Anti-Slavery Alphabet Book, written by Hannah and Mary Townsend and published in 1847, was used to teach children about slavery.

The porcelain teapot below depicts an enslaved human in chains. According to the exhibit, this type of imagery was less derogatory than the typical images of Africans and Black Americans and was used to generate empathy for enslaved people.

Although the images used on these artifacts were probably effective at stirring sympathy and opening pocketbooks, they're a stark contrast to the dignified way that Black people chose to pose themselves.

These images remind me of the commercials that some nonprofits use to depict starving African children in order to spur donations. While the technologies have changed, exploitative marketing continues to rear its ugly head.