Edward Mitchell Bannister

Edward Mitchell Bannister (1828–1901) was a Black Canadian-American painter who spent his working life in Boston and Providence. Born in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, he moved to Boston in the late 1840s, working first as a barber before establishing himself as a portrait and photography artist within the city's abolitionist community. His marriage to hairdresser and entrepreneur Christiana Carteaux gave him vital patronage and a place in Black Boston's political and cultural life; his portrait of Robert Gould Shaw was used to raise funds for African American soldiers during the Civil War.