Rebecca, Charley and Rosa. Slave Children from New Orleans

New York: Kimball, 1863. Very good.. Carte-de-visite. Light wear, part of captioned underlined in red pencil. One of a series of CDVs featuring recently freed slaves produced in 1863-1864 as part of a fundraising effort in the American South. According to a notice printed on the verso: "The nett proceeds from the sale of these Photographs will be devoted to the education of colored people in the department of the Gulf, now under the command of Maj.-Gen. Banks." The funds were used to establish schools for former slaves in southern Louisiana during the Union occupation of the region. This image features three well-dressed children who appear to be white, but are, in fact, not, according to contemporary race laws. The three children pictured -- Rosina Downs, Charley Taylor, and Rebecca Huger -- were among the most famous of the "white slave children" of the South.