Rare stereograph of Aaron Dupuy transferred to Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate

LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)- Aaron Dupuy was known as Henry Clay’s personal valet and driver. He had been with the family for more than sixty years, according to Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate.
A very rare stereograph image taken of him has been transferred back to the care of the Henry Clay Memorial Foundation.

“We are very excited to have this because these images of enslaved people usually do not come with names or stories,” says Jim Clark, the Executive Director of the Foundation.

The stereograph image of Dupuy was part of the Henry Clay Memorial Foundation papers. They were donated to the University of Kentucky Libaries Special Collections Research Center to be preserved. And now the center is transferring them back to the estate to help shine a light on the lives of those who were often dimmed.

“Finding images of enslaved people is a tremendous challenge. Rarely does that occur. And here we have one that is identified,” says Eric Brooks, curator of the Henry Clay Estate.

Brooks says out of the more than 120 known slaves owned by the clay family, the only images connected to the Ashland estate are from the Dupuy family.

“When we do our tours, I think it will be tremendously impactful for people to be able to see the physical object. It’s always important to tell the story, but the story means so much more when you can see the thing behind it,” says Brooks.

The stereograph was considered high tech technology back in the 1880’s when the photo was taken. At the time people could buy images locally and from all over world. When you looked through it, usually two separate images depicting a left eye and right eye view of the same scene would become a three dimensional image.

“One of my biggest hopes is that by bringing this stereo card here into Ashland is that people who wont come into the University of Kentucky libraries will be able to see this image here. Start to ask questions. And want to learn and discover more and do even more research on this hidden history,” says Deirdre Scaggs, the Associate Dean for Research and Discovery for the SCRC.

Brooks says he will process the stereographed photo, catalogue it and add it online. He will then get it framed. It will then be displayed on the wall alongside a drawing of Aaron’s son Charles Dupuy.

They plan to showcase it during tours within the next few weeks.