Portrait of barber Robert J. Wilkinson
Robert J. Wilkinson was one of the 1,500 to 2,100 free African Americans living in the city of St. Louis in the early 1850s and 1860s. He was the proprietor of a successful barbershop in the Planter’s House Hotel. In 1858, Wilkinson was included in Cyprian Clamorgan’s pamphlet The Colored Aristocracy of St. Louis due to his social and economic position in the city.
Object Title and Accession Number
Portrait of Robert J. Wilkinson, barber of the Southern Hotel. Daguerreotype by Thomas M. Easterly, 1860–1869. N17221.
A sepia-toned historical portrait of a man in formal 19th-century attire, featuring a suit with a high-collared shirt and cravat. The image is enclosed in an ornate, gold-colored frame.