Photograph is full standing studio view of the two freed slave children arm-in-arm. Printed in period ink at bottom edge of photo is: "Brother & sister slaves." Pre-printed on mount under the image is: “Isaac and Rosa, Emancipated Slave Children from the Free Schools of Louisiana."

According to Harper's Weekly: "Isaac White was a black boy of eight years, but nonetheless intelligent than his whiter companions. He has been in school about seven months, and I venture to say that not one boy in fifty would have made as much improvement in that space of time.

Rosina Downs is not quite seven years old. She is a fair child, with a blonde complexion and silky hair. Her father is in the rebel army. She has one sister as white as herself and three brothers who are darker. Her mother, a bright mulatto, lives in New Orleans in a poor hut and has hard work to support her family."

The sales of their portraits would fund newly established schools for former slaves in southern Louisiana. Both children had been born into slavery in the South, freed by the Union army in 1863, and, with several other children and adults, taken on a tour in the North.

Card is in fine condition. [jet]  [ph:L]

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