What Do I Want, John Henry?

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

At the start of the Civil War, Alexander Gardner was granted unlimited access to photograph the Union troops. The images Gardner produced over the next four years—documenting the aftermath of battles and the life of soldiers in camp—were seen primarily in exhibitions and circulated in smaller form as cartes de visite. He published Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of the War in 1865, at the war’s end. With two volumes of 50 albumen prints each, the album retailed for $150—the equivalent of several months of an average worker’s wages—making it a luxury item. According to the photographer, “What do I want, John Henry?” was a question this Union captain frequently asked his servant (ex-slaves most often served the Northern army as cooks and laborers). On the page accompanying this photograph, Gardner patronizingly described John Henry as an “affectionate creature” of “untutored nature,” who was grateful for his newfound freedom at the war’s end.

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