Albumen print of Sojourner Truth, formerly enslaved, seated with photograph of her grandson, James Caldwell of Company H, 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, on her lap. Caldwell was held as a prisoner-of-war by the Confederacy at James Island, South Carolina, 1863-1865.
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Liljenquist Family collection
Photograph of Brackett's bust of John Brown showing a 3D-printed plastic replacement nose. With the plastic nose, conservators were able to make a cast and then a new plaster nose. This photograph was taken in 2016 as the bust was being restored.
Attribution:
Brackett, Edward Augustus
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection
A tech from 3D Printsmith 3D-scanning both the damaged bust of John Brown and an undamaged plaster copy from the Boston Athenaeum. This was done in order to prepare an exact, 3D-printed copy of the nose and eyebrow for the damaged bust. This photograph was taken in May 2016.
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection
Photograph of Brackett's bust of John Brown showing damage to nose and eyebrow. This photograph was taken in May 2016 prior to the bust's complete restoration.
Attribution:
Brackett, Edward Augustus
Attribution Statement:
Image courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Collection
Poem by John Greenleaf Whittier memorializing the life of George Luther Stearns after his death. Published in the Atlantic Montly, June 1867, pp. 707-708. (Note: The pages have been combined into a single image.)
Snippet of the executor's inventory (dated July 14, 1913) of the will of Mary E. Stearns, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The typewritten document gives a list of items donated to Tufts College and their assessed value ($100.00).
Photograph of Tufts College from the clay pits on the southeast side of College Avenue. Visible in the center are the willows trees that lined College Avenue. Also visible is the College Avenue bridge over the railroad tracks. Visible Tufts buildings are Curtis Hall, Paige Hall, Goddard Chapel, East Hall, Ballou Hall, Packard Hall, and West Hall.
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Medford Historical Society & Museum
Excerpts from the handwritten will of Mary E. Stearns, who died in December 1901. The excepts itemize a number of specific objects in her house that she would like to be donated to Tufts College after her sons are finished with them. The text reads, "Also to hold for the use and enjoyment of the said Henry during his life the following described articles of personal property situated in the house where I now reside namely: my tall "grandfather's clock" on the front stairway, the "highboy," the cabinet, the tripod table, the old English mirror, all the old-fashioned chairs which belonged to my deceased husband, the bust of John Brown, the bust of George L. Stearns, the bust of Beethoven, the bust of Emerson, the bust of Clytie, the Venus of Milo, and the several paintings painted by my old friend Christopher P. Cranch, excepting only the one hereinbefore given to Lenora Cranch Scott, said articles all to be kept, preserved and used by him during his life in the house where I now live and not elsewhere."
Statue of Charles Sumner by Anne Whitney, 1900, located in General MacArthur Square near Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA. The design for the sculpture had originally been submitted for a competition in Boston and had won. However, when the organizers found out the sculptor was a woman, they rejected her design and chose the install the statue designed by the runner up (this statue is now located in the Boston Public Garden). Whitney's friends later arranged to have the sculpture placed outside Harvard Yard. Photograph taken August 2017.
Excerpt from a map of Medford, 1855, showing South Medford, with the George L. Stearns Estate highlighted in green and Tufts College highlighted in blue near the center of the image.
Attribution:
Walling, Henry Francis; Kollner, Augustus
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library.
Excerpt from the Brainard map of Medford, 1880, showing South Medford. The Evergreens (Stearns Mansion) and the Willows (College Avenue) are labeled in the lower left.
Attribution:
Brainard, Charles H.; O.H. Bailey & Co
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center, Boston Public Library.
Plaque in front of Cousens Gym in Medford, MA, commemorating the former site of the Stearns Estate. The plaque reads, "Site of the Stearns Estate: A waystation on the Underground Railroad, a haven for slaves seeking freedom. 1850-1860. Placed here by members of the Tufts community, who continue to honor the tradition of sanctuary. Dedicated April 8, 1987." The plaque was dedicated one day shy of the 120th anniversary of the death of George L. Stearns. This photograph was taken in August 2017.
The first page of volume 1, number 1, of the Universalist Magazine (July 3, 1819) published in Boston by Henry Bowen and edited by Hosea Ballou I and Hosea Ballou II.
Grave monument for the George L. Stearns at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. The text reads, "George Luther Stearns. The virtues of this rare man were celebrated at this death by the eloquence of Emerson, and in the poetry of Whittier. An unexampled honor, in his time he sheltered the exiled Hungarians together with John Brown. He saved Kansas to freedom. Almost alone in 1863 he organized the colored regiments, which turned the scale in favor of the Union cause. He expended a fortune in public and private benefactions." Photograph taken in August 2017.
A list of objects to be delivered to Fine Arts Express by the Tufts University Gallery in September 1998. The first two in the list are the busts of John Brown and George L. Stearns, at that point identified only as "Bust of a bearded man" and "Bust of a man."
Attribution Statement:
Courtesy of the Tufts University Permanent Art Collection
Broadside advertising an event featuring a speech by Theodore Parker for the anniversary of the kidnapping and return to slavery of Thomas Sims under the Fugitive Slave Act.
Bronze bas-relief plaque of Hosea Ballou II, the first president of Tufts University, on the exterior wall of Ballou Hall, the first building on campus.
Reverse of the Robert Gould Shaw and 54th Massachusetts Regiment Memorial in Boston. The text reads, "To the Fifty-fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Infantry The White Officers taking life and honor in their hands cast in their lot with men of despised race unproved in war and risked death as inciters of servile insurrection if taken prisoners besides encountering all the common perils of camp march and battle. The Black Rank and File volunteered when disaster clouded the union cause served without pay for eighteen months till given that of white troops faced threatened enslave- ment if captured were brave in action patient under heavy and dangerous labors and cheerful among hardships and privations. Together they gave to the nation and the world undying proof that Americans of African descent possess the pride courage and devotion of the patriot soldier. One hundred and eighty thousand such Americans enlisted under the union flag in MDCCCLXIII–MDCCCLXV." This photograph was taken in August 2017.
Letter from Tufts College president Leonard Carmichael to George R. Sands & Son, a conservator in Cambridge, 1950. It was this letter that allowed Tufts University Art Registrar Laura McDonald to put two and two together and realize the noseless bust was that of John Brown. The letter reads, "Gentlemen: Tufts College has a marble bust of John Brown, sculptured by Edward A. Brackett. Some time ago in an accident the nose was broken on this bust. Would it be possible for someone in your organization using contemporary photographs of John Brown to prepare a new nose that could be cemented to the bust? If this is feasible, would you be willing to indicate the cost of your work? Very truly yours, Leonard Carmichael"
A handwritten note dated May 4, 1977, stating that the bust of John Brown may have been stolen in 1952. There are no records on this, but it is likely the bust was simply misplaced.