Pass for free woman Harriet Lawson to visit her husband, Caleb
date: label: Date
content: May 21, 1832
name: label: Subject of
content: Harriet Lawson, American, born 1803
label: Subject of
content: Caleb Lawson
notes: label: Caption
content: To Visit Your Husband: Harriet Lawson’s Pass, 1832
label: Caption
content: Harriet Lawson carried this pass to visit her husband, Caleb, at work in a nearby town. As free blacks, the Lawsons could legally marry, but Maryland placed limits on their liberty. If they traveled without a pass, they could be fined $20 or sold into slavery.
label: Caption
content: The Back of Lawson’s Pass
label: Caption
content: If stopped, Lawson would face the humiliation of being physically inspected. This pass described her as: “Black, 29 yrs of age five feet high has a mole on the right side of her right eye no other perceptible mark.”
label: Caption
content: Slavery and Freedom Exhibition
label: Description
content: A free woman's pass for Harriet Lawson, a free black woman, to visit her husband Caleb Lawson, signed in Frederick County, Maryland, on May 21, 1832. Davis Richardson is listed as the witness. The pass is on a single sheet of paper. There is handwriting in ink on both recto and verso, handwriting in pencil on verso only. The proper right side has discoloration and abrasions with loss of paper along the edge but no apparent loss of text. The ink writing from the verso side is visible faintly through to the recto side. Creases remain from the pass having been folded twice, once lengthwise and once widthwise.
label: Transcription Center Status
content: Transcribed by digital volunteers
place: label: Place made
content: Frederick County, Maryland, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Families
label: Topic
content: Free communities of color
label: Topic
content: Freedom
label: Topic
content: Law
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1815-1861
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Slavery and Freedom Objects
label: Classification
content: Documents and Manuscripts
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2014.63.7
objectType: label: Type
content: legal documents
label: Type
content: manuscripts
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: ink on writing paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 5 × 7 15/16 in. (12.7 × 20.2 cm)