Title
Plate
Label
Plate Commemorating Elijah Lovejoy
Made in England, 1838-1860
Made of Lead-Glazed Earthenware
Diameter 9.25"
Museum Purchase with Funds from the Estate of Mary Hilliard
The murder of Elijah Lovejoy, an anti-slavery newspaper editor killed by a pro-slavery mob in 1837, is commemorated on this plate. Imagery and text celebrating the Constitution, freedom of the press, and the abolition movement covers its surface.
Lovejoy's murder, and the acquittal of his murderers by a pro-slavery jury, galvanized abolitionists; it moved John Brown, who later led an attempted slave insurrection in 1859, to declare, "Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery."
Made in England, 1838-1860
Made of Lead-Glazed Earthenware
Diameter 9.25"
Museum Purchase with Funds from the Estate of Mary Hilliard
The murder of Elijah Lovejoy, an anti-slavery newspaper editor killed by a pro-slavery mob in 1837, is commemorated on this plate. Imagery and text celebrating the Constitution, freedom of the press, and the abolition movement covers its surface.
Lovejoy's murder, and the acquittal of his murderers by a pro-slavery jury, galvanized abolitionists; it moved John Brown, who later led an attempted slave insurrection in 1859, to declare, "Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery."
Citation
“Plate,” Museums at Washington and Lee University: Online Exhibits, accessed May 2, 2024, https://exhibits-museums.omeka.wlu.edu/items/show/21.