These images were not propoganda per se.

Fannie was adopted by a woman named Catherine Lawrence. Lawrence was a civil war nurse--and probably the first nurse-anetheselologist in history.

While Lawrence was serving in Virginia, she came across three young girls who had come through Confederate lines. Fannie was the youngest. Lawrence placed two of the girls with good families and adopted Fannie.

There is some confusion in Lawrence's autobiography as to whether Fannie was forced to flee because she was the child of unionist sympathizers or a slave herself. It is likely Fannie was a slave, though.

Despite the traumas she suffered, Fannie was an extremely bright, precious child with a marvelous singing voice. Lawrence left the nursing service after butting heads with Clara Barton and proceeded to travel all over the country. She had no money, and the images were likely a way to raise funds so she could survive.

The Beecher Connection arose from a friend of Lawrence's who knew the famous preacher. Beecher held a fundraising event at his church for Lawrence and her family, but they never got a dime out of it. Lawrence said she was "Deaconed" out of the money.

I wish this story came to a happy ending, but it did not. Lawrence says in her autobiography that Fannie got tangled up with the wrong kind of man and came to a sad an unfortunate end at a fairly young age.

She would have been in a terrible position, raised as a white child but considered an African American in a very racist time. She wouldn't have fit in anywhere and was probably doomed from the start.

Anyway, hope this fills people's curiosity. There are more than 20 images of Fannie that I've seen myself, making her one of the most photographed children of her time.

Please feel free to contact me if you'd like more information.