George Fuller (1822-1884) was an artist from Deerfield, Massachusetts. He drew this hasty sketch of an African American funeral in Alabama in 1858. The sketch and his memories of this event formed the basis for his painting, “Negro Funeral, Alabama”, currently in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. Enslavers generally allowed the enslaved to conduct their own funeral services. White plantation owners often required that deceased enslaved people be buried in more remote areas of a plantation. This racially-motivated arrangement may have provided African American mourners more privacy and control over burial rites.
Fuller, George. Negro Funeral. 1858. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1994-20-03-55/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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