Colonel and Mrs. James A. Whiteside, Son Charles and Servants

  • Creator: James Cameron (1817-1882)
  • Title: Colonel and Mrs. James A. Whiteside, Son Charles and Servants
  • Date: ca. 1858-1859
  • Description: A woman and man sit at a table on a balcony overlooking a gorge, river, and town. The woman holds a piece of lace and the man, a book. On the table is a wooden box and and a letter and envelope, to which the man points. Seated to the right are a servant and a small child. At left, a young servant enters carrying two glasses.
  • Historical Note: The scene depicts the James A. Whiteside family, including Mr. Whiteside (1803-1861), his wife Harriet (1824-1903), a son and two family slaves. Probably painted from their summer home on what is now Point Park on Lookout Mountain, the background is a view of the Moccasin Bend of the Tennessee River as it runs through Chattanooga. Colonel Whiteside, seated at center right, built the Lookout Mountain Hotel, which opened on June 1, 1858. James A. Whiteside brought artist James Cameron, who painted this scene, to Chattanooga in the early 1850s. Cameron made the painting as a gift to his patron. The railroad depicted in the far right of the painting would be the Nashville & Chattanooga, for which Anderson, then a member of the Tennessee State House of Representatives for Hamilton County, was instrumental in obtaining a charter.
  • Institution: Hunter Museum of American Art
  • Publisher: Digital Initiatives, James E. Walker Library, Middle Tennessee State University
  • Rights: Images reproduced on this website are intended for individual, educational use only. For research inquiries about specific objects or requests for high resolution images, contact the Hunter Museum of American Art.
  • URL: http://cdm15838.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/shades
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