The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad, painted by Charles T. Webber for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, celebrates abolitionists' efforts to end slavery. It depicts Levi Coffin, his wife Catharine, and Hannah Haddock, all friends of the artist, leading a group of freedom seekers to freedom on a winter morning. The setting of the painting may be the Coffin farm in Cincinnati.
Webber, Charles T. “The Underground Railroad,” 1893. Oil on canvas. Cincinnati. Cincinnati Art Museum. https://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/art/explore-the-collection?id=19760930
Public Domain
Public Domain is a copyright term that is often used when talking about copyright for creative works. Under U.S. copyright law, individual items that are in the public domain are items that are no longer protected by copyright law. This means that you do not need to request permission to re-use, re-publish or even change a copy of the item. Items enter the public domain under U.S. copyright law for a number of reasons: the original copyright may have expired; the item was created by the U.S. Federal Government or other governmental entity that views the things it creates as in the public domain; the work was never protected by copyright for some other reason related to how it was produced (for example, it was a speech that wasn't written down or recorded); or the work doesn't have enough originality to make it eligible for copyright protection.