The striking Emancipation Memorial statue in Washington, D.C., shows Abraham Lincoln standing, while a man wearing only a loincloth is appearing to rise from a kneeling position.
The face in the memorial is that of Archer Alexander, who had escaped slavery in 1863 by fleeing to St. Louis, Missouri. Fundraising for a memorial was launched in 1864 by Charlotte Scott, who had been enslaved in Virginia before moving to Ohio. She did not design the monument, however.
As a historian of art, I argue that the origin and evolution of this image illustrate how ideas can change over time.
