Public Outcry Halts Auction of Documents on Slavery

In response to a public outcry, several 19th century slavery documents scheduled to be auctioned to the highest bidder today at Christie’s in New York were withdrawn from the sale and will instead be donated to a museum or historical society.

The eight documents, grouped in three sets, or “lots,” in the Christie’s catalog, include posters announcing a reward for runaway slaves, a slave auction poster announcing “Chancery Sale of Eight Likely Negroes” and other papers, including a receipt for “a mulatto boy named Joe.” They were part of a larger collection of Civil War-era autographs and manuscripts being sold by Christie’s.

The decision not to sell the slavery documents was made abruptly Tuesday after Christie’s was flooded with calls from furious radio listeners from around the country who had heard a commentary about the sale on the “Tom Joyner Show,” a nationally syndicated program claiming 3 million listeners in dozens of markets.

Tavis Smiley, host of “BET Tonight With Tavis Smiley” and a regular guest on Joyner’s show, gave the commentary, urging that the documents be donated to a museum and attacking what he said is a double standard on the part of Christie’s. He said that although it is the policy of Christie’s not to auction items related to the Holocaust, no such policy exists for items related to African American slavery.

“You can’t profit on the pain and misery of some and respect the history of others,” Smiley said after hearing of the items’ withdrawal.