Carte de visite photograph depicting three young African American girls identified in the printed caption as “Rebecca, Augusta and Rosa, Emancipated Slaves from New Orleans.” The children are posed full length in a studio setting, standing side by side and dressed in coordinated capes, dresses, and hats, with carefully styled hair and lace-trimmed garments. The photograph is an albumen print on a standard CDV mount. The lower margin bears the printed credit “Photographed by Kimball, 477 Broadway, N.Y.” along with a copyright notice dated 1863 entered according to act of Congress.

This image is among the most widely recognized photographic representations produced during the Civil War to promote Northern abolitionist and philanthropic causes. It was issued shortly after the Union occupation of New Orleans and the emancipation of enslaved people in the city, and it was intended to visually counter pro-slavery stereotypes by presenting formerly enslaved children as well dressed, dignified, and fully human. The photograph circulated broadly in the North as part of a campaign to generate sympathy and financial support for freed people.

The verso carries a printed statement explaining the purpose of the photograph’s sale: “The nett proceeds from the sale of these Photographs will be devoted exclusively to the education of colored people in the Department of the Gulf, now under the command of Maj.-Gen. Banks.” This explicit fundraising text firmly anchors the card within the wartime effort to support education for formerly enslaved African Americans and underscores the photograph’s role as both a documentary image and an instrument of social reform.