Isaac Norris glass slide

Isaac Norris glass slide -- Hand drawn and early – this must surely be an extremely rare slide. It was discovered in a large box of early, hand drawn slides and a lantern. There are no markings on the slide to indicate age or maker. However, there was a slide in the lantern that advertises slides by Harback & Co. – Filbert Street – Philadelphia. The glass slide says: “Lately imported from Antigua and to be sold by Edward Jones in Isaac Norris’s Alley A parcel of likely Negro women and girls from thirteen to age and twenty years of age and have all had the Small-Pox Two very likely Negro boys." There is a bit of irony here. Isaac Norris was the Speaker of the Philadelphia (Colonial) Assembly who commissioned the Liberty Bell. He also oversaw its recasting after it cracked during its first ringing. Norris was a Quaker and a merchant who is known to have traded in slaves from the West Indies.