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Barbara Krauthamer, a leading historian of U.S. slavery and emancipation, professor of history, and Dean of the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, was interviewed by the BBC about the true story of 'Whipped Peter,' the inspiration behind Will Smith's new film, "Emancipation." Whipped Peter, as he was called by abolitionists, was also known as Gordon, the subject of a photograph that shows an enslaved man who survived a whipping that left his body mutilated and scarred. 

The photograph showed "these were real people with real experiences. It was taken to present a visual narrative of the horror of slavery during the Civil War," Krauthamer says. "What often gets lost is the focus on the man himself—the story of this man who understands that the Civil War is an opportunity to literally take ownership of his body and his life."

In their book, Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery, Krauthamer and her co-author, photography historian Deborah Willis, describe how advances in photography enabled the image of Gordon's whipped back to be affordably reproduced on small notecards and shared widely.

Abolitionists sold reprints of his image to raise money for their efforts. But, Prof Krauthamer says, reactions to the portrait were mixed.

"It was entirely common for people to say, it's fake, I don't believe it," she says. "White people did not think black people were reliable witnesses, even to their own experiences."

Continue reading the BBC article.