Infant Funeral Procession

Infant Funeral Procession

William P. Chappel

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the early nineteenth century, children—especially those living in crowded port cities—died from a host of diseases, including tuberculosis, dysentery, typhoid fever, diphtheria, pneumonia, and yellow fever. The funeral pictured here is being held at the New Methodist Church, with the white picket fence, on Second (now Forsyth) and Bayard Streets. A chain has been stretched across the street to block traffic as eight young women—clad in all white—escort the child’s coffin at the head of the procession. Just to the right of the church stands Fire House 2, which is next to a corner grocery.

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Infant Funeral ProcessionInfant Funeral ProcessionInfant Funeral ProcessionInfant Funeral ProcessionInfant Funeral Procession

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.