Cabinet card of Mary Jane Hale Welles in a funeral dress by Elizabeth Keckly
date: label: Date
content: 1866
name: label: Photograph by
content: Henry Ulke, German American, 1821 - 1910
label: Subject of
content: Mary Jane Hale Welles, American, 1817 - 1886
label: Subject of
content: Elizabeth Keckly, American, 1818 - 1907
notes: label: Caption
content: This portrait depicts Mary Jane Hale Welles, wife of Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles, in a funeral dress. The dress is said to have been sewn and designed by Elizabeth Keckley for the funeral of her son Hubert Gideon Welles in 1862, and again worn by Welles at the funeral of President Lincoln in 1865.
label: Description
content: A cabinet card portrait of Mary Jane Hale Welles wearing a funeral dress designed by Elizabeth Keckly (sometimes spelled Keckley). The albumen print is on a Henry Ulke card mount with a narrow black border. This full length portrait shows Mary Jane Hale Welles standing in a three quarters turn away from the camera. Wearing a dark colored full-length dress with a train and a dark colored lace shawl, she gazes directly at the viewer. Her right hand rests on a small side table next to her with two books stacked on it. The print is on a card mount with text on the reverse that reads "Henry Ulke, / 278 Pennsylvania Avenue. / Washington, D.C. / 1866."
place: label: Place used
content: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Clothing and dress
label: Topic
content: Craftsmanship
label: Topic
content: Free communities of color
label: Topic
content: Funeral customs and rites
label: Topic
content: Motherhood
label: Topic
content: Photography
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Photographs and Still Images
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: 2018.35.2.2
objectType: label: Type
content: cabinet photographs
label: Type
content: albumen prints
label: Type
content: portraits
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: albumen and silver on photographic paper on cardboard
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (Image): 5 1/2 × 3 7/8 in. (14 × 9.9 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (Sheet): 6 7/16 × 4 3/16 in. (16.4 × 10.6 cm)