Antebellum Period Primary Sources
Historical documents. What clues can you gather about the time, place, players, and culture?
Reviewing the Minstrels
This page from the digitized Brooklyn Daily Eagle newspaper archive reviews the performance of the United States Ethiopian Minstrels on May 12th, 1848. Zoom in on that left column.
Reading the Mind
This piece of ephemera from April 1854 expounds on the "science" of phrenology in rhyming verse, and reflects many of the beliefs and assumptions of the period.
Photography for the People
This Boston photographer advertised its services and prices to the public, probably in the early 1850s.