Citizens of Color, 1863-1890: The "Talented Tenth

Charles Ethan Porter

Mounting racism certainly was a barrier that narrowed the range of employment and limited the satisfaction that would result from work, but it was somewhat more permeable for Blacks with unique talents or abilities. Such a person was Charles Porter, who has recently been rediscovered as a major 19th painter. Only a small portion of his works are known today, and what we do have tends to be work done in old age after the height of his creative vigor had already passed.

Porter's family had lived in Hartford since the 18th century, but his father moved to a house in Rockville while Charles was a young boy (we are not ...