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'Slavery as it exists in America. Slavery as it exists in England', 1850

This is a black-and-white print showing two contrasting scenes of 'slavery' produced by J Haven of Boston, USA. The top scene shows African American slaves in the US southern states dancing and playing the banjo after their day's work is over. The bottom scene shows four episodes of people lamenting the 'slavery' of work ...

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Proclamation of emancipation, c1864

This is a black-and-white print celebrating the Proclamation of Emancipation by US President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The text includes the all-important words 'all persons held as slaves within any States, or designated part of the State, the people whereof shall be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, ...

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Thornhill plantation house, 2010

This is the two-storey Thornhill plantation house in Greene County, Alabama, showing the southern facade with its two-story portico of six Ionic columns across the front, and the eastern-side elevation. The photograph was taken by Carol Highsmith.

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'Am I not a man and a brother?', 1837

This is a black-and-white illustration of a kneeling male slave in chains. It appeared on a broadside (a poster, often with a poem or news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations) published in New York. The broadside also featured John Greenleaf Whittier's anti-slavery poem, 'Our countrymen in chains' and two quotations, ...

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Sketch of a slave cabin in Virginia, 1864

This is a black-and-white sketch showing a slave cabin with a small girl standing in front. The handwritten caption reads 'Slave Cabin near the Long Bridge, Chicahominy River, Va [Virginia], June 13th 1864'. The artist was Edwin Forbes and elsewhere on the drawing he noted, 'Sketched while on the march from Long Bridge ...

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'Effects of the Fugitive-Slave-Law', 1850

This is a black-and-white print showing four African Americans attacked in an ambush by six armed white men. One of the white men is firing as two others reload their guns, and two of the African Americans have been hit. The print is a denunciation of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, its effect reinforced by two quotations ...

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'The abolition of the slave trade', 1792

This is a hand-coloured cartoon print showing an African girl being hoisted by the ankle for a flogging on board the British slaving vessel Recovery. The vessel's captain John Kimber is seen on the left, whip in hand. The cartoon was drawn by Isaac Cruikshank and published by S W Fores in London on 10 April 1792. The alternative ...

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'The parting - "Buy us too"', 1863

This is a colour lithographic card showing a shackled slave being taken away by his new owner as his wife and child beg to be bought as well so the family would not be separated. The owner gestures them away with his whip. The card was the fourth in a collectable series of 12 album cards entitled 'The slave in 1863. A thrilling ...

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Second atomic bombing of Japan at Nagasaki, 1945

This is a black-and-white photograph showing the mushroom cloud rising from the explosion of an atomic bomb with an estimated force of 20,000 tonnes of TNT, 560 m above Nagasaki, Japan, on 9 August 1945. Part of the wing of the camera plane that accompanied the bomb-carrying plane can be seen at bottom right. The image ...

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Landmarks: people and places across Australia

This resource features the Landmarks gallery, which traces a broad history of Australia since British colonisation in the late 18th century. The exhibition explores ten big themes in the country's past through the stories of Australian places and the people who have lived there. It examines how people have engaged with ...

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African American teacher and pupils at a segregated rural school in Oklahoma, 1940

This is a black-and-white photograph showing an African American female teacher with two students in a school in Creek County in the US state of Oklahoma. The photograph was taken by Russell Lee in February 1940. Part of the caption he wrote for the image reads, 'This year, despite the fact the white school received free ...

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Jessie Street, 1889-1970

This is a collection of primary and secondary sources about Jessie Street, a prominent 20th-century human rights campaigner known as ‘Red Jessie’. The collection is introduced by the black-and-white passport photograph seen here that links to a richly documented biography on a showcase called 'Uncommon lives'. The showcase ...

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Police arresting an African American during the Sojourner Truth housing riot, 1942

This is a black-and-white photograph showing an African American being arrested by two policemen in Detroit, Michigan. One mounted policeman looks on and another stands guard. The photograph was taken in February 1942, almost certainly on 28 February, by Arthur Siegel. Part of the photograph's caption reads: 'Riot at the ...

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Gold nugget

This is a gold nugget (approximately 3.4 cm x 2.2 cm), which was probably found in about 1865 on a goldfield in Otago (in the southern South Island of New Zealand).

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Diphtheria ward of the Melbourne Hospital, Christmas 1900

This is a black-and-white photograph taken in the grounds of the Melbourne Hospital on Christmas Day, 1900. It shows children from the hospital's diphtheria ward seated in a large wicker pushcart. Two nurses, one of whom holds an infant, stand behind the children. On the right of the photograph is a doctor. The photograph ...

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City railway terminus, Melbourne, 1854

This is a black-and-white lithograph measuring 12.5 cm x 20 cm, depicting the city terminus of the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Company in Melbourne in 1854. An early type of steam locomotive is shown approaching a platform where passengers and freight are waiting. The drawing was made by Samuel Thomas Gill and his ...

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Boats and supplies at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, 1915

This is a sepia-toned photograph of Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula in Turkey taken in early June 1915. Boats and barges are moored at several temporary pontoon piers. On the shore are many soldiers, a row of guns and several barrels. The photograph measures 17.1 cm x 27.7 cm.

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Convicts from hulks, Woolwich, England, 1779

This is a hand-coloured engraving of convicts from the hulks at Woolwich labouring in the docks area. Two hulks are anchored offshore with rowboats shuttling to and fro. Beneath the image is inscribed 'A View near WOOLWICH in KENT showing the Employment of the CONVICTS from the Hulks'. The engraving measures 29.8 cm x 44.9 cm.

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Anticonscription demonstration, Melbourne, c1916

This is a black-and-white photograph measuring 15.5 cm x 10.9 cm, of a street demonstration against conscription, taken during the First World War. It shows a long line of marchers, including two men carrying a banner inscribed 'IF BLOOD BE THE PRICE OF YOUR CURSED WEALTH, GOOD GOD WE HAVE BOUGHT IT FAIR'. The line of marchers ...

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The 'West Australian' polling board for the Federation referendum, 1900

This is a black-and-white photograph that shows a huge polling board with the results of the Federation referendum in Western Australia, which was held on 31 July 1900. The board shows that Western Australia voted to join the Commonwealth of Australia by 44,652 votes to 19,636. It also shows the results for each of the ...