Get To Know: James Presley Ball

According to the African American Registry (AAREG) website, James Presley Ball was born in 1825. Mr. Ball combined his work as an abolitionist with his photography business. He ran small studios in Cincinnati, Richmond, Minneapolis, Helena, and Seattle, serving as a traveling daguerrotypist in 1847. In addition to everyday people, he recorded Queen Victoria, Charles Dickens, Frederick Douglass, Jenny Lind..

In 1855 he created a pamphlet that described slavery from capture in Africa through bondage in the United States. This project extended to a 2,500 square yard painted panoramic mural on canvas panels showing the horrors of slavery. Only printed descriptions of this mural remain.

After moving to Minneapolis, he became the official photographer for the 25th anniversary celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation. He may have relocated to Portland, Oregon, in 1901.He died in Honolulu in 1904.

Illustration from Cincinnati Museum Center