Plan of the Contemplated Murder of John Campbell

This photograph represents a studio reenactment of an actual event. John Campbell, who was a leading figure in the Republican Party, was abducted and whipped by members of the Ku Klux Klan. Just before he was to have been killed, federal marshal Joseph G. Hester rescued Campbell. Hester himself commissioned this photograph, copyrighting the work and sending prints to the Northern press and authorities in Washington, D.C. 

Campbell—seen here kneeling with a noose around his neck—helped recreate the event. Bizarrely, the Klansmen in this image are actually Campbell’s African American friends. Though the reasons for their participation are not known, their presence adds a complex dimension to our understanding of the photograph’s intention and use.