"Pinky" looking at her Freedom Ring

The famous Reverend Henry Ward Beecher gave a sermon on February 5, 1860, during which he impersonated a slave auctioneer and asked the congregation of Plymouth Church for offerings. His dramatic and emotional speech roused the audience, and people tossed money and jewelry into the collection plates. $900 was raised to buy freedom for a young slave girl known as "Pinky" (Sally Maria Diggs). At the end of the "auction" Mr. Beecher picked up a ring from the collection plate, a large fire opal, and placed the ring on Pinky's hand, saying "With this ring I do wed thee to freedom." The painter Eastman Johnson painted this portrait after seeing Pinky sitting on the ground looking at her "Freedom Ring." (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 21, 1934, p. 1)

For more about Sally Maria Diggs, see Documents 14, 15, and 105.

Citation - Document 13
Photographs: Churches: Congregational: Plymouth: Slaves
February 5, 1860
Brooklyn Public Library – Brooklyn Collection
www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/civilwar