[JASPER, John. (1812 - 1901)]. Photograph of formerly enslaved Reverend John Jasper. N.p., n.d., ca 1870s.

5 1/2 x 8 1/4 in. albumen photo mounted on a 7 3/4 x 9 3/4 in. cardstock mount (toning, some soiling, and retouched areas of print, some surface residue on lower margin of print; soiling, chipping areas of loss to mount). A view of John Jasper seated in a studio, holding his hat in one hand and a cane in the other.

John Jasper was born in enslavement in Fluvanna County, VA, on 4 July 1812. His father, Philip Jasper, had been a Baptist preacher, but John, the youngest of 24 children, was born 2 months after his father died and so did not benefit from his father's example. Attitudes toward Christianizing enslaved people were mixed in the antebellum South. Some feared the enslaved people would take Biblical lessons, such as the Exodus, to heart. Those who viewed them as "beasts of the field" did not see the need to convert them. As the tensions over slavery increased, large-scale efforts at conversion were undertaken, some in recognition of the humanity of the enslaved, others to attend to their "needs," and thus demonstrate that the enslaved were being "humanely" treated.

John was converted in 1839 and began preaching shortly thereafter. By 1844 he became known for his funeral orations, and was in great demand throughout the region. Those hiring him paid his owner for the loss of his time at home. By the end of the Civil War, Jasper was reaching the peak of his career. To accommodate those wanting to hear him preach, he founded the Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in 1867. His widest recognition came with his "Sun Do Move" sermon in 1874, which he gave over 250 times, once to the state General Assembly.

Jasper taught himself to read and write and was perfectly literate, but always preached in the dialect of the southern enslaved, his primary audience. It is reported that some white southerners came to hear him preach to ridicule his speech patterns, but many more seem to have recognized the power of his message in any language.