MS01.01.03.B02.F10.009

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[crossed out: New Orleans. Jules Lion was listed in the New Orleans City Directory as early
as 1836 with the duel profession of lithographer and deguerretypist. In 1839
he travelled tp Paris and became a devoted student of Deguerre whose newly
developing art of photography had yet to be successfully received in America.
Upon his return to New Orleans in 18 , he attempted to experiment with the
techniques that he had learned with the camera in his lithographic studies at
the City of New Orleans. (See figure ) ] The city of New Orleans provided
the atmosphere for the developement of a sophisticated black society which imitated
all of the refinements of living that had come to the famous city from Paris
and other centers of world culture.

[crossed out: Many notations] Numerous accounts of the trust that was given the black artisan from colonial
times to the later quarter of the 19th century have come to us by way of press
announcements of sales of slaves^[and from] advertisements of the artisan services of
free men of color. Many of these craftsmen are excellent furnituremakers.
Others embellished the interiors of homes that were owned by wealthy city and
rural dwellers. Still others worked under supervision of white architects
whose plans for^[constructing] buildings such as the State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama and
the courthouse in Vicksburg, Mississippi were carried out entirely by slaves.
Numerous [crossed out: churches] mansions were built by black carpenters along with [crossed out: mansions] churches for the
white congregations of the South. *

Black furnituremakers were the master craftsmen among carpenters. Their
shops could be found in every principal city along the East coast. Some were
located in small inland towns. These men counted on the patronage of wealthy
whites, including governers and professional men of means, to support their
prosperous businesses. Most noteworthy among black furniture makers living

*