1993.6.0, Connecticut Museum of Culture and History, No known copyright

James Mars, Winsted

PhotographerPhotographed by Thomas M.V. Doughty American, born 1823

Dateabout 1870

MediumPhotography;albumen print on paper on cardboard mount

DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width): 4 5/16 x 2 3/4in. (11 x 7cm)

ClassificationsGraphics

DescriptionStudio portrait of an elderly African-American man wearing a coat and vest and holding a cane.

Object number1993.6.0

NotesSubject Note: James Mars was a Connecticut slave who, with his family, refused to follow his master, a minister named Thompson, to Virginia, where he would have been denied the emancipation guaranteed him at age twenty-five under Connecticut law. Mars later worked in a dry goods store in Hartford, Connecticut where he was a prominent member of the African American community. In 1864, he published a biography, the Life of James Mars. He later moved to Massachusetts and died in Ashley Falls.

Subject Terms