CINCINNATI — Freeman’s Hindman’s American Historical Ephemera and Early Photography sale on Tuesday, February 27 features documents, historical artifacts, and photography from throughout American history, with a focus on the pioneering figures and key moments that shaped the African American experience during the last 300 years. The complete catalog is available for bidding at LiveAuctioneers.
The leading lot of the sale is Roll, Jordan, Roll, number 122 of a total press run of 350 books signed by author Julia Peterkin and photographer Doris Ulmann. Published by Robert O. Ballou in 1933, the book is a sympathetic and non-stereotypical view of former slaves living in the Gullah coastal region of South Carolina. It carries an estimate of $8,000-$10,000.
A Reconstruction-era broadside political poster alerting voters to how their votes would be interpreted with regard to ‘Negro suffrage’ is another top lot. It reads in part, “Every Republican vote is a vote for Negro suffrage / In favor of Congress compelling us to let the Negro vote.” Published by the Democratic campaign of Charles T. Molony, his message was apparently heard as he went on to win his New Jersey State Assembly race. The broadside is in fair condition with some areas of loss; its estimate is $7,000-$9,000.
Another New Jersey-related item focuses on the Republican Party’s attempt to push voting rights for Black males in the 1868 election. It is estimated at $3,000-$4,000.
Maria Howard Weeden (1847-1905) was an Alabama-based poet and artist who published and signed her works as ‘Howard’ Weeden. Her sympathetic portraiture of emancipated Blacks earned her great respect throughout her career, and even exhibitions in Europe. This watercolor of an elderly woman has an estimate of $5,000-$7,000.
This carte de visite of Frederick Douglass was imaged by J. B. Roberts around 1867 at his Rochester studio, located at 58 State Street. The lot notes describe it as “Possibly a previously unknown image”, though it resembles another image in the Rochester Public Library collection. It is estimated at $2,000-$3,000.
