Hake's Anti-Slavery to Civil Rights Auction ending June 23 features historically-significant items

YORK, Pa. - June 2, 2026 - PRLog -- Hake's Anti-Slavery to Civil Rights Auction, online now and closing on June 23 is filled with important and historically-significant items that trace a long arc of history starting in the 1780s, advancing through the MLK era to the Obama presidency. This special sale showcases the unique and exceptional ceramics collection of Rex and Patti Stark, with additional consignments from around the country compiled by Hake's Americana Director Scott Mussell, whose passion for documenting the African American experience is reflected in each of the auction's 366 premier lots.

Several items are expected to battle for top-lot honors. One is a circa-1872 thin, canary-yellow broadside advertising a Maine Republican Party rally featuring the African American social abolitionist Frederick Douglass and former Maine governor and state Republican Party co-founder Israel Washburne as guest speakers. It rained that day in August 1872, thus greatly diminishing chances that the 29-inch by 21-inch broadside would survive. This extraordinary artifact is estimated at $10,000-$20,000.

Another top-lot candidate is a circa 1859-1860 stoneware jug with an inscription that reads, "Dec. 1st 12 O'clock P.M. Gov. Wise Sleeps With One Eye Open Expecting The Rescue Of John Brown." It is a reference to the white Christian militant abolitionist John Brown, whose death by hanging the following day, December 2, 1859, was expedited by Virginia Governor Henry A Wise. The 11½-inch-tall jug advises Wise, who was mired in apprehension, to sleep "with one eye open." Estimate: $10,000-$20,000

A third key lot is a circa-1856 Copeland, Staffordshire Parian porcelain statuette of "Tiff," a character from Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Dred. The delicate, well-detailed 12-inch-tall sculpture was executed by the African American sculptor Eugene Warburg, who trained as a stonecutter and traveled to Europe to further his artistic career. The Duchess of Sutherland, an abolitionist, commissioned Warburg to do a series of works based on Stowe's two anti-slavery novels. Estimate: $10,000-$20,000

One of the most iconic artifacts of American history is also one of its simplest and most unassuming. It's a thin cardboard placard measuring 13¾ inches by 21¼ inches, with just the four words, "I Am A Man," in bold black ink. The placard was used by protestors during the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike in 1968. This variant script corresponds to that seen on materials used at the Martin Luther King Memorial March for Union Justice and to End Racism, Memphis, Tenn., held April 8, 1968. Estimate: $10,000-$20,000

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