The famous “whipped slave
The famous “whipped slave ” photograph pictures the runaway slave Gordon exposing his severely whipped back to the camera of two itinerant photographers, William D. McPherson and his partner, Mr. Oliver. Gordon had received a severe whipping for undisclosed reasons in the fall of 1862. This beating left him with horrible welts on much of the surface of his back. The unusual, but common, way these scars grew outward from the skin is a certain type of scar tissue called “keloid”. It is caused by an excessive protein called collagen within the healing tissue and raises the tissue. People of color are more likely to develop keloid scars. Gordon escaped in March 1863 from the 3,000-acre (12 km2) plantation of John and Bridget Lyons, who held him and nearly 40 other people in slavery at the time of the 1860 census. Upon learning of his flight, his master recruited several neighbors and together they chased after him with a pack of bloodhounds. Gordon had anticipated that he would be pursued ...