Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - 'G'wine to de Field," Hopkinson's, Edisto Island, South Carolina

Preview image of work. albumen print on paper, 'G'wine to de Field," Hopkinson's, Edisto Island, South Carolina 29680

2015.45

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'G'wine to de Field," Hopkinson's, Edisto Island, South Carolina

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Artist

Henry P. Moore (H. P. Moore) (Goffstown, New Hampshire, 1835 - 1911, Buffalo, New York)

Title

'G'wine to de Field," Hopkinson's, Edisto Island, South Carolina

Creation Date

1862

Century

mid-19th century

Dimensions

5 1/4 x 7 1/16 in. (13.34 x 17.94 cm)

Classification

Photographs

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

albumen print on paper

Credit Line

Museum Purchase, Gridley W. Tarbell II Fund

Copyright

Public Domain

Accession Number

2015.45

On November 9, 1861, Colonel Drummond delivered an evacuation order to the White citizens of Edisto Island in anticipation of what was feared to be the next battleground in the Civil War. Residents were commanded to leave quickly and take their slaves, but most of the enslaved found that their masters had abandoned them. While many suffered after being left to fend for themselves during winter, word had spread that Edisto Island had become a Black republic of free people. In January 1862, it is estimated that about 1,000 free Black people lived on this island, a number that doubled by April 1862 and continued to grow as escaped enslaved people sought refuge. Pictured here are members of this population on the deserted Hopkinson’s plantation as they grappled with the uncertainty and newfound agency of an existence unhindered.