John Greenleaf Whittier portrait, Boston, MA, 1903
- Subjects
- PortraitsPublic Figures
- Card type
- Printed photo
- Date
- c. 1903 (Early)
About this postcard
An oval vignette portrait of John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–1892), the Quaker poet and abolitionist, shown in old age with a full white beard, dark coat, and bow tie, printed in the soft color of a photochrom. Whittier was one of the Fireside Poets, remembered for "Snow-Bound" and for decades of antislavery verse and prose. The card was addressed to a recipient in Amesbury, Massachusetts, the Merrimack Valley town where Whittier lived for most of his adult life and where his house is preserved as a museum. Detroit Photographic Company issued portraits like this one for a mass market in the early 1900s, when photochrom views and celebrity likenesses sold widely.
Postcard Details
Amesbury, MA
Postcard record
| Postmarked | , Boston, MA |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Detroit Photographic Co. |
| Series | 6143 |
| Condition | Good |
| Place addressed | Miss Charlotte Hassett, Amesbury, MA |
| Publisher | Detroit Photographic Co., Detroit, MI |
| Stamp | 1c Benjamin Franklin, green, perforated on all sides |
| Stamp | 10c Benjamin Franklin, green, issued 1902 |
| Notes | Oval vignette on a cream ground; light soiling and a blue stain streak below the portrait; handwritten annotation "Boston - Sept 24 1903" in ink at the bottom, not a correspondence message. Postmark: BOSTON MASS SEP 24 1903 8-30 A, with flag cancel BACK BAY STATION. Undivided back printed "POST CARD" / "THIS SIDE FOR THE ADDRESS."; 1¢ green Franklin stamp; light edge wear and a few foxing spots. |
Cite this card
John Greenleaf Whittier portrait, Boston, MA, 1903, postcard, c. 1903. PostalPast Collection. https://postalpast.com/postcard/john-greenleaf-whittier-portrait-boston-ma-1903. Accessed November 2, 2026.