Custom House Mill, July 6, 1869

Custom House Mill, July 6, 1869

African Americans, politics, race relations

This 1869 lithograph from the Richmond studio of lithographer Charles Ludwig illustrated one fear that white Virginians entertained after the Civil War, that unscrupulous politicians would use government jobs in the post office or federal customs houses to create powerful radical Republican political machines with the support of African American voters. Here, a slick politician is grinding out registered voters from a mill of the kind used to grind coffee beans. The date on this image, July 6, 1869, was the date on which Virginia voters ratified the new state constitution that granted the vote to black men.

Charles L. Ludwig

Library of Virginia, Prints and Photographs Division

1869

Library of Virginia

CC BY-SA

JPG

Lithograph

13_1162_008

Virginia