"The title 'Scourged Back' unveils the grim reality of slavery. Currently, it finds itself at the heart of the national discussion on censorship in America."
The photograph "Scourged Back," a haunting image from the 19th century, continues to inspire and inform modern art, while sparking debate within the US. This defining image, depicting a formerly enslaved Louisiana man with scars and welts on his body, has recently come under scrutiny from the Trump administration.
The National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of African American History and Culture are among several US institutions that still own prints of the image. Museums, libraries, and universities across the nation display historic prints of the image and often use it for educational purposes.
However, the Trump administration has initiated a review of Smithsonian museums' content, and the potential changes could compromise the Smithsonian's stated mission of presenting "the complexity of our past." The image, also known as "whipped Peter," gained traction in the summer of 1863 and was widely circulated in abolitionist newspapers like The Liberator.
The image appeared in Harper's Weekly, a mainstream publication, in July 1863, as part of a triptych in an article titled "A Typical Negro." Historians believe each picture showed a different individual, contrary to Harper's Weekly's claim that they depicted the same man.
The image, originally produced as a "carte de visite," a small-format photograph commonly sold, shared, and traded during the Civil War, reshaped the abolitionist cause in America. After escaping a Louisiana cotton plantation in early 1863, the man reached Union lines, which under President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation made him permanently free and eligible to join the US army's "Colored Troops."
The Trump administration has signaled that it expects the Smithsonian, which includes the National Portrait Gallery and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, to start implementing corrections around the end of the year. The image has become a flashpoint in the controversy surrounding the administration's efforts to eradicate what it calls "corrosive ideology" from federally owned sites.
The image, taken at a photography studio owned by William D. McPherson and J. Oliver, has at least three known versions. The Liberator sold the image to subscribers for 15 cents, or $1.50 for 12.
The instruction to remove the "Scourged Back" image from the unnamed national parks was given by the National Park Service. However, the US Interior Department, which oversees the National Park Service, has since denied the report.
The potential removal of the image has been met with criticism. The National Parks Conservation Association and others have voiced disapproval, with the senior director of cultural resources stating that removing it would be "as shameful as it is wrong."
A letter sent to the Smithsonian's secretary, Lonnie Bunch III, by White House officials last month obliges the Smithsonian to present America's heritage in ways that are simultaneously "historically accurate" and "uplifting." The controversy surrounding "Scourged Back" continues to unfold, with many questioning the implications of the administration's actions on the presentation of historical truth.
