Reason used his artistic gift to reveal his feelings about slavery. His work was admired by many, which led him to produce portraits and designs for periodicals and front pieces for slave narratives in the mid-nineteenth century.
Patrick H. Reason
Born in 1816, Patrick Reason was an engraver and lithographer. At the age of 13, he drew a picture of the school he was attending. Later, his drawing of the school building was engraved for the front of Charles C. Andrew’s book The History of the New York African Free-Schools published in1830.
He became a widely published artist whose work appeared in books, especially slave narratives. Reason worked for Harper’s and other New York publishers and he also did some engraving for the government. Firms often refused to hire him because their engravers would not want to work with a black man.
He received several employment offers from firms in Cleveland, and by 1869 moved there with his family. By 1872 he was working for jeweler Sylvester Hogan; and by 1886 he had his own shop.