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Primary sourcePhotographc. 1850

William Lloyd Garrison by Southworth and Hawes

Southworth and Hawes · c. 1850

A daguerreotype portrait of William Lloyd Garrison made around 1850 by the Boston studio Southworth and Hawes.

This studio portrait depicts Garrison himself at the height of his disunionist campaign.

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Sepia-toned oval portrait of an older bald man with wire-rimmed spectacles, dark suit, high white collar, and dark bow tie, turned three-quarters to the left against a dark background.
Southworth and Hawes, William Lloyd Garrison, c. 1850.

About this source

What it is

This is a daguerreotype portrait of William Lloyd Garrison, made around 1850 by Southworth and Hawes, a leading Boston photography studio active in the mid-19th century.

Why it matters

The photograph captures Garrison at the height of his campaign against slavery and in favor of dissolving the Union rather than compromising with slaveholders. Studio portraits like this were costly and carefully composed, showing how public figures wanted to present themselves to history.

Look closer

  • What does Garrison's expression and posture suggest about how he wanted to be seen?
  • Why might a studio portrait like this have been commissioned at this point in his career?
  • What is missing from a formal portrait like this that a letter or speech might reveal instead?

This photograph 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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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

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William Lloyd Garrison · 1831-1865

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