Abstract
Patricia Phillips Marshall and Jo Ramsey Leimenstoll Thomas Day: Master Craftsman and Free Man of Color . Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010, 320 pp., 20 color and 243 b/w illus. $40, ISBN 9780807833414 In 1850 Thomas Day, a free man of color, owned the most successful cabinetmaking shop in the state of North Carolina. In their book Thomas Day: Master Craftsman and Free Man of Color , Patricia Phillips Marshall and Jo Ramsey Leimenstoll outline the unique life of this artist, who was an anomaly in this region. They examine the idiosyncrasies of Day's style of furniture and architectural woodwork, which made him so sought after by the elite white population of the Dan River region of North Carolina and Virginia. To unravel the personal and professional history of an extraordinary man of the antebellum South, the authors make extensive use of primary source materials, such as census records, correspondence, real estate records, pattern books, and advertisements in local newspapers, as well as numerous examples of Thomas Day's works, many of which appear in this richly illustrated book. Marshall and Leimenstoll set Day's life story and professional output within the larger political, social, and cultural climate of North Carolina during the three decades preceding the Civil War. They argue that Thomas Day was able to achieve his great success, and amass a large fortune, despite his race through a combination of business acumen, hard work, and immense talent, …
Published Version
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