Ambrotype of African American Woman with Flag

Source: Ambrotype of African American Woman with Flag, 1860s. Photograph. National Museum of American History (Smithsonian Institution)

Date: 1860s

Text/Transcription:

During the Civil War era, portraits of enslaved persons as laborers were a popular photographic theme. This portrait depicts a washerwoman stationed near Richmond, Virginia, at a Union encampment. A washerwoman was one of several roles proscribed for Black women who participated in the war battlefront. Other roles included nurse, scout, spy, and cook. Some literate women also served as teachers. The American flag and a brass “U.S.” pinned to her bodice carried social and political meaning for African Americans who asserted allegiance to the Union cause for the hope of freedom and full citizenship.