pennsylvania

Travel to Paris was a prerequisite for aspiring American painters of the late nineteenth century. Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859-1937), an African American painter born in Pittsburgh, was among the throng of artists to journey there. Tanner decided to become a painter at the age of thirteen after seeing an artist painting outdoors in a park in Philadelphia. In 1897, Tanner enrolled in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts where he studied under Thomas Eakins (1844-1916).

Upon the discovery of a long-forgotten cemetery in Philadelphia, excavation and study exposed the remains of a Baptist church cemetery and its African-American inhabitants. Thorough research of the skeletons and surrounding area shed light on the living conditions of the African Americans in 19^th-century Philadelphia and its environs. This book is important to scientists and curators studying 19^th-century American life and physical remains of 19^th century Africa -Americans.