MS01.01.03.B02.F10.008

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1854,2,668 persons of African ancestry, of which 470 were classified as black
and 2,198 as mulatto, were registered as skilled laborers and craftsmen in the
city of New Orleans. 6 However, there were certain craft related areas in which
Blacks were scarcely represented. There were few printers using movable type
and there were very few bakers and engravers. The threat of militant blacks
learning to print inflammatory anti-slavery material always loomed heavily in
the minds of fearful whites who also took seriously the talk of mass poisoning
from eating goods that were baked by Blacks. The voodoo cult was religiously
practiced by unlettered Blacks living in New Orleans. The cult called for the
use of objects that [crossed out: imitate] serve as masks [crossed out: and] or implements of punition such as the so-
called metal Slave Mask [underlined] illustrated in figure [crossed out: that was] to which cult attribution [crossed out: to the] has been given.

The urban communities of the South provided many opportunities for the
skilled craftsman to extend his artistry beyong craftmanship into^[more leisurely] accepted
forms of art expression such as sculpture, portrait painting and engraving.
By the mid-nineteenth century, a host of well-to-do men and women of African
ancestry, who counted among their numbers medical doctors, teachers, nurses,
musicians, architects, engineers and inventors, lived in the city of New Orleans
and patronized black craftsmen in the same manner as [crossed out: the] did wealthy whites. It
should be noted that Eugene Warbourg obtained his skills as a sculptor at carving
[left margin: 11?] tombstones for members of both races. Still remaining today are fine examples
of his craftsmanship that may be seen at the St. Louis Cementry in the city of

6
Stahl, Annie L.W., LOUISIANA HISTORICAL QUARTERLY, "The Free Negro
in Ante-Bellum Louisiana", Vol 25, No.2., April, 1942, PP 301-395.