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Historical Documents H. E. Hayward and slave nurse Louisa |
Resource Bank Contents |
click image for close-upUnder the institution of slavery, African Americans and the white people who owned them lived in close proximity and developed relationships with each other. These were defined by the power imbalance between the people involved. They could be relationships of mutual compassion or mutual hatred, but they were an inherent part of daily life.
One of the most complex relationships was the one that existed between white children and their African American caretakers. White children were often in the unnatural position of standing to inherit the people who raised them, and enslaved nannies were in the similarly unnatural position of caring for the children who would grow up to be their masters. This picture, of slave nurse Louisa and her charge, H. E. Hayward, suggests the inherent tension of these relationships.
Image Credit: Digital image ©1998 Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis
Related Entries:
• Conditions of antebellum slavery
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