Joshua Johnson manumission record
name: label: Creator
content: Johnson, Joshua, fl. 1796-1824
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- Maryland -- Baltimore
label: Topic
content: Slaves -- Emancipation -- Maryland -- Baltimore
label: Topic
content: African American artists
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Lent for microfilming 1996 by the Maryland Historical Society.
creator: label: Creator
content: Johnson, Joshua, fl. 1796-1824
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Joshua Johnson, or Johsnston (circa 1765-circa 1830) was an African American portraitist in Baltimore, Maryland. Johnson was the son of a white man and an enslaved woman and was sold to his father, who acknowledged him as his son and agreed to free him when Johnson either completed an apprenticeship with a blacksmith or turned 21, whichever came first. Johnson was listed in Baltimore City directories as a painter or limner beginning in 1796. He is the first documented African American professional artist.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Microfilm reel (4 pages)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1782 July 15
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.johnjosh
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Microfilm reels
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: 35mm microfilm reel 5135 available at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
originalsloc: label: Existence and Location of Originals
content: Originals returned to lender after microfilming. The originals have now been digitized and are available through the Maryland Historical Society.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: This microfilm collection documents African American artist Joshua Johnson's formal emancipation from slavery on July 15, 1782. The manumission is recorded in pages 298-300 of a volume of Baltimore County Chattel Records, 1773-1788.