Attributed to the artist C.R. Parker, the 19th-century oil painting “Portrait of Frederick” (c. 1840) is thought to be one of two known portraits depicting enslaved individuals in Mississippi. For decades, the truth about Frederick Baker’s life under enslavement was enshrouded in a whitewashed history perpetuated by the local historians of Longwood mansion in Natchez, Mississippi. Between January and March of this year, Louisiana-based historian and author Katy Morlas Shannon pored over old letters, family documents, plantation journal entries, newspapers, and government records to compile a comprehensive timeline detailing Baker’s life. Her findings reveal a lifetime of cruel violence, inhumane living conditions, and exhausting work that he and his family endured under enslavement, dispelling a long list of false claims perpetuated by Longwood since the Pilgrimage Garden Club took ownership of the property in 1970. The Pilgrimage Garden Club, which provides year-round tours at othe...