Wilson Chinn, a sixty year old former slave was branded on the forehead

Wilson Chinn, a sixty year old former slave was branded on the forehead

160. Wilson Chinn, a sixty year old former slave was brandedon the forehead with his owner's initials, 'V. B. M.' Chinn is wearing a contraption and irons designed to prevent slave escapes. At lower left is a slave paddle. Ca. 1864.

Wilson Chinn (fl. 1863) was an escaped American slave who became known as the subject of photographs documenting the extensive use of torture received in slavery. The "branded slave" photograph of Chinn, a former slave from Louisiana, with the initials of his owner branded on his forehead, Volsey B. Marmillion, wearing a punishment collar and posing with other equipment used to punish slaves, became one of the most widely circulated photos of the abolitionist movement during the American Civil War and remains one of the most famous photos of that era. The New York Times writer Joan Paulson Gage, noted, "The images of Wilson Chinn in chains, like the one of Gordon and his scarred back, are as disturbing today as they were in 1863. They serve as two of the earliest and most dramatic examples of how the newborn medium of photography could change the course of history

The former slaves, including Chinn, traveled from New Orleans to the North. Of these, four children appeared to be white or octoroon. According to the Harper's Weekly article, they were, "'perfectly white;' 'very fair;' 'of unmixed white race.' Their light complexions contrasted sharply with those of the three adults, Wilson, Mary, and Robert; and that of the fifth child, Isaac—'a black boy of eight years; but nonetheless [more] intelligent than his whiter companions.

The group was accompanied by Colonel Hanks from the 18th Infantry Regiment. They posed for photos in New York City and in Philadelphia. The resulting images were produced in the carte de visite format and were sold for twenty-five cents each, with the profits of the sale being directed to Major General Nathaniel P. Banks back in Louisiana to support education of freedmen. Each of the photos noted that sale proceeds would be "devoted to the education of colored people". Most of these were produced by Charles Paxson and Myron Kimball, who took the group photo that later appeared as a woodcut in Harper's Weekly.

In January 1864, to fan the anti-slavery cause and promote the sale of abolitionist photographs, these images appeared in an article about Chinn and the child slaves published in Harper's Weekly, the most widely read journal during the Civil War.