Mrs. Molyneaux Hewlett Douglass

The above portrait is of activist and suffragist, Virginia L. Molyneaux Hewlett Douglass (1849-1889), photographed by G.H. Loomis, in Boston, circa 1869 (Boston Athenaeum).

She was the daughter of the professor of gymnastics at Harvard University, Aaron Molyneaux Hewlett, and the wife of Frederick Douglass, Jr. The couple had two sons, Frederick Aaron and Charles Paul Douglass.

Mrs. Douglass portrait is part of a rare collection of 19th-century photographs, belonging to a slavery survivor, abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor, are now available online through the Boston Athenaeum. With one click, people from all over the world can now view Harriet Hayden’s historic portrait albums.

“This is a part of living history,” John Buchtel, curator of rare books and head of special collections, told the Banner. “Almost all of the photographs in these albums were free African Americans in 1860s Boston, they were heavily involved in the abolition movement and in civil rights causes. And we hope that we’re able to actually connect with descendants of some of these folks. But we’re also hopeful that their stories, as we learn more about who they were and what they did, we’re hoping that those stories will be a source of inspiration for people.”

Buchtel said that the Athenaeum acquired the albums in November of 2019. Ever since, librarians and catalogers have been working to digitize the albums and make them accessible to the public. All 87 photos were sent first to a conservation lab to examine and treat them before being photographed for the Athenaeum website.

“The remarkable thing about this collection is that not only do we know who owned it, but we know the names of almost every person in the albums,” said Buchtel. It was likely Harriet Hayden herself who wrote the names of everyone in the margins, he added.

“It’s just an incredible window into the social networks, into the lives of these people,” he said. “It some cases, this may be the only known photograph of some of these people.” Alongside the anonymous faces, however, are famous African Americans. The photos include the first African American man to earn a Harvard law degree, George Lewis Ruffin; the famous attorney Robert Morris; and the esteemed poet and suffragist Frances Ellen Watkins Harper.

The photos of these prominent figures wouldn’t exist without the efforts of Hayden herself. Alongside her husband Lewis Hayden, who in 1873 became one of the first black legislators in Massachusetts, Hayden fled Kentucky and escaped slavery in 1844. They traveled to Canada, but soon discovered that their bravery was required elsewhere.

Sources: The Bay State Banner (Feb. 2020) A 19th Century Photo Album Comes to Life, article by Kenneal Patterson