Some years ago, a collector took an old Confederate bank note into a North Charleston blueprint shop and asked an employee to have it enlarged. The employee, John W. Jones, was also an artist. Taking a magnifying glass to the bank note he noticed an image of a black field hand picking cotton. Through subsequent research, he discovered that scenes of slave labor were used on Southern currency in the mid-19th century as a response to abolition. Jones began painting the images he saw on these bank notes.
"Confederate Currency: The Color of Money" is on display now through July 13, 2018 at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The Exhibition investigates the importance of slavery in the economy of the South. Here to discuss Confederate Currency are artist John W. Jones; and National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Manager of Program Initiatives Christopher Miller.
Tune in to "Cincinnati Edition" April 18 starting at 1 p.m. to hear this segment, and click the photo above to preview "The Color of Money" exhibit.
