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Primary sourcePainting1833

William Lloyd Garrison

Nathaniel Jocelyn · 1833

An 1833 oil portrait of Garrison by Nathaniel Jocelyn, painted during his lifetime as a young editor and abolitionist leader.

A lifetime portrait of Garrison painted the same year he founded the American Anti-Slavery Society.

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Oil portrait in an ornate gilded frame of a balding middle-aged man with wire-rimmed spectacles, wearing a dark coat, white shirt, and black neckcloth, against a dark brown background.
Nathaniel Jocelyn, William Lloyd Garrison, 1833. Oil on wood.

About this source

What it is

This is an oil portrait of William Lloyd Garrison painted in 1833 by Nathaniel Jocelyn. It shows a balding middle-aged man wearing spectacles, a dark coat, and a black neckcloth, set against a dark background in a gilded frame.

Why it matters

The portrait dates from the same year Garrison founded the American Anti-Slavery Society, after his personal conversion to the cause of immediate abolition around 1828. At the time, Garrison was a controversial and unpopular figure who faced threats including being nearly lynched in Boston, yet he refused to soften his demand for the immediate end of slavery.

Why it matters

This image lets students see Garrison as his contemporaries might have, during the period when he was transforming the antislavery movement into a moral crusade.

Look closer

  • What does the formal, serious style of the portrait suggest about how Garrison wanted to be seen, or how others saw him?
  • Why might an artist paint Garrison in 1833, given the dangers he faced at that time?
  • What does this portrait not tell you about Garrison's actual words and actions?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of William Lloyd Garrison on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Yellowed title page of the 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. Text reads 'Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself', 'Boston: Published at the Anti-Slavery Office, No. 25 Cornhill, 1845'.Book

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Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave

Frederick Douglass · 1845

Title page of 'Thoughts on African Colonization' (Boston, 1832). Large heading reads 'Thoughts on African Colonization: or an impartial exhibition of the doctrines, principles and purposes of the American Colonization Society', with text 'together with the resolutions, addresses and remonstrances of the free people of color'. Epigraphs from the Bible appear below, followed by 'By Wm. Lloyd Garrison'. Imprint: 'Boston: Printed and published by Garrison and Knapp, No. 11, Merchants' Hall, 1832'.Book

Primary source

Thoughts on African Colonization

William Lloyd Garrison · 1832

Oil portrait of a balding older man with wire-rimmed spectacles, wearing a black coat, white shirt, and black neckcloth, against a dark brown background. He faces forward with a neutral expression.Painting

Primary source

William Lloyd Garrison

Nathaniel Jocelyn · 1833

Masthead of The Liberator newspaper, an engraved illustration with the title THE LIBERATOR in large letters across the bottom. Scenes include an auction of enslaved people with a sign reading slaves, horses, sheep, and other goods, a central robed figure with arms raised breaking chains, enslaved people working in fields, and a gate at right. Below the title is the motto Our Country is the World, our Countrymen are all Mankind.Newspaper article

Primary source

The Liberator, 15 December 1854

Hammatt Billings · 15 December 1854

Front page of The Liberator, Boston, Friday, January 3, 1862, Vol. XXXII, No. 1, Whole No. 1619. A woodcut vignette of figures, including a standing woman, sits above the masthead. Dense columns of small printed text fill the page.Newspaper article

Primary source

The Liberator

William Lloyd Garrison · 1831-1865

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