Uncle Sam

Item

Type
Illustration/Drawing
Title
Uncle Sam
Rationale
This 19th century illustration provides insight into what forms of work were available to free Blacks, issues of segregation, and the portrayal of Black men in American media.
Description
Howard Pyle depicts Samuel Nimmy, a retired driver on the Old National Pike, or Cumberland Road. Begun in 1811, the Old National Pike ran from Cumberland, Maryland to Wheeling, West Virginia.

Pyle was hired to illustrate W. H. Rideing’s article “The Old National Pike" for Harper's New Monthly Magazine in 1879. The National Pike, approved by President Thomas Jefferson in 1806, was the first federally funded highway and its 620-mile route followed old buffalo paths and Native American trails. The National Pike served as a major gateway to the West for settlers, commodities, and mail.

Rideing interviewed a few men who had worked as drivers of wagons and stagecoaches, including Nimmy. According to Rideing, "his recollections are vivid and detailed in point...although he is eighty-six years old...he lives in a comfortable cottage at Hagerstown (Maryland)...the centre table is loaded with books, principally on Negro emancipation and the events of the Civil War." Although he does not mention it, Black and white drivers had separate overnight quarters and dining areas.
Date
1879
Place
1800s
Subject
Samuel Nimmy
Creator
Howard Pyle
Extent
Physical Dimensions: 11.9" x 9"
Digital Dimensions: 343 × 546
Medium
Graphite, charcoal, and gouache on paper
Publisher
Delaware Art Museum
Rights
Photograph and digital image © Delaware Art Museum. Not for reproduction or publication.
The copyright and related rights status of this item has not been evaluated. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available (noted above in Publisher and Identifier) for more information.