Cotton Collection

Cotton loaded on steamboats by black slaves, New Orleans
Slaves loading cotton bales on riverboats at the New Orleans levee, 1850s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Cloth labels from American textile mills, 1800s
Labels for cloth woven at 19th-century textile mills, displayed in Lowell, Massachusetts. Photograph

Cotton wharf in Charleston SC, 1870s
Black stevedores loading bales on the cotton wharf in Charleston, South Carolina, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Machine-spun thread on a bobbin in the Lowell mills
Bobbins with machine-spun thread, Boott Cotton Mills, Lowell, Massachusetts. Photograph

Cotton gin in use by African-American slaves in the South
Slaves using Eli Whitneys cotton gin, invented in the 1790s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Buffalo Bayou, which became the Houston Ship Canal, 1870s
Steamboat loading cotton on Buffalo Bayou, connected to the Gulf of Mexico, Houston, Texas, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Cotton plant. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Cotton bales on a river boat, 1800s
Steam-driven boat loaded with bales of cotton, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Cotton bale loaded on a boat in New Orleans, 1800s
Young African-American stevedore loading cotton onto a steamboat at New Orleans, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Afroamerican slaves picking cotton. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Dallas in the 1870s
Cotton wagons on Elm Street in Dallas, Texas, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

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Native woman spinning cotton in the ancient way, Mexico. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustratioin

Cotton-press, 1800s
African-American workers baling cotton in a cotton-press, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Textile workers in a northern mill, mid-1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Lowell girls weaving in Massachusetts textile mills, 1850s. Hand-colored engraving of a 19th-century illustration

Cotton bales brought into a Georgia market town, 1880s
Market-place of a Georgia village during the cotton harvest, 1880s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

Slaves planning their escape to freedom
Slaves on a cotton plantation talking about escaping to the north, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Picking cotton on a plantation in the Deep South, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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African-American slave with bag of picked cotton, US South, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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African-American field-hands picking cotton, late 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Boott Cotton Mills on the Merrimac River in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1850s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Textile mills line the Merrimac and Concord rivers in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1830s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Power looms inside the Boott Cotton Mills, Lowell National Historical Park, Massachusetts. Photograph

BUSN2P-00097
Fabric label for cloth woven in Lowell mills, Boott Cotton Mill Museum, Lowell, Massachusetts. Photograph

Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta, 1895
Fine Arts Building at the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, 1895. Hand-colored halftone reproduction of a 19th-century illustration

Cotton cleaned by hand, South Carolina
Cotton to be cleaned, Charles Towne Landing colonial historic site, South Carolina. Digital photograph

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Confederate blockade runner dodging a Union cruiser, US Civil War. Hand-colored halftone of a 19th-century illustration

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African-American stevedores loading cotton on a ship in Charlestown, South Carolina, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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MIll worker tending mule-spinners, an industrial textile machine, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th century illustration

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African-American man collecting pay for cotton delivered in Austin, Texas, 1870s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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Slaves bringing in loads of cotton after a days picking, early 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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African American slaves picking baling and ginning cotton by steam Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

AGRI2A-00114
Slaves bringing in the cotton harvest. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

AGRI2A-00127
African-American hauling baled cotton to market with a team of mules, 1800s. Hand-colored woodcut of a 19th-century illustration

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