Title

Manumission certificate for Nathan Johnson from "State of Maryland, Baltimore City, Sct"., 1859. Creator: Unknown.

Caption

Manumission certificate for Nathan Johnson from "State of Maryland, Baltimore City, Sct"., 1859-05-05. 'I hereby certify, to all whom it doth or may concern, that it hath been proved to my satisfaction, that bearer hereof Nathan Johnson [an African-American man] aged about 20 years, of very light complexion, five feet five inches high, has no scars, Is the identical person Manumitted by Harriett Johnson by Deed dated fifth day of May, A.D. 1859 and recorded among the Chattel Records of Baltimore...and that the said Nathan Johnson was raised in Baltimore City and State aforesaid. In Testimony Whereof, I have hereto set my hand and affixed the Seal of the Superior Court of Baltimore City...[signed] Geo. E. Sangston Clerk'. Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers.

Credit line

Photo12/Heritage Images/Heritage Art

Reference

HRM23A18_256

Model release

NA

Property release

NA

License type

Rights managed

Available size

16,4Mb (562,2Kb) / 8,5in x 7,5in / 2543 x 2252 (300dpi)

Keywords

people black library bureaucracy freedom country skin color state text race location century document identity ownership concept African American African-American B&W certificate owner citizenship afro-american slavery lettering public library MONOCHROME United States of America Colour Skin Colour 19th century black & white black and white B W white and black New York Public Library nineteenth century NYPL heritage American America USA bureaucratic united states Unknown manumission FREEDMAN freedmen cultural heritage Black History Heritage Art documents 19th-century Schomburg Center for Research Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture