Broadside for Blind Tom: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A broadside for the formerly enslaved musician Thomas Wiggins, known as "Blind Tom." The broadside is printed in black and red ink on cream-colored paper. Along the top edge of the broadside is large red text that reads [THE EIGHTH WONDER / of the world.]. An engraved image of Tom is in the top half of the broadside. He is shown from the chest up wearing a dark suit coat over a white collared shirt with a black cravat. His head is slightly turned towards his right shoulder and his eyes are closed. The image is set into a black rectangular border frame with vertical text on the left side reading [The great / MUSICAL PRODIGY / of the age] and text on the right reading [The most / MARVELLOUS [sic] GENIUS / living.]. Under this rectangle is large black text that reads [EMANCIPATION COMPLETE / The Last Slave Set Free by order of the Supreme Court of the United States. / Come and hear him play for himself and for your entertainment. / The Genuine, Original and Only]. In large red text at the center of the broadside are the words [BLIND TOM]. Below this are several paragraphs of text containing Tom's biography and promoting his musical talents.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1887
• Printed by: Jacob Dux & Co., American, founded 1875
• Subject of: Thomas Greene Wiggins, American, 1849 - 1908
• Type: broadsides
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 29 15/16 × 13 3/16 in. (76 × 33.5 cm)
• Place printed: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Emancipation
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Musicians
• Topic: Slavery
• Object number: 2021.89
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.