To Make Their Own Way in the World

by Ilisa Barbash

"To Make Their Own Way in the World is a profound consideration of some of the most challenging images in the early history of photography. The fifteen daguerreotypes-made in 1850 by photographer Joseph T. Zealy portray Alfred, Delia, Drana, Fassena, Jack, Jem, and Renty, men and women of African descent who were enslaved in South Carolina. Since 1976, when the daguerreotypes were rediscovered at Harvard University's Peabody Museum, the photographs have been the subject of intense and widespread study. To Make Their Own Way in the World features essays by prominent scholars who explore...