Chest of Drawers

Thomas Day, a free man of color, was a cabinetmaker who, by 1850, owned and operated the largest furniture factory in North Carolina. His work garnered much praise in Raleigh newspapers with pronouncements such as, “We notice for sale a lot of superior furniture…. made by Thomas Day so well known as a fine artisan in his profession.” Day’s ingenuity in design, incorporation of new industrial techniques, and use of a free and enslaved workforce combined with his status as a free Black man made him a rarity among Black cabinetmakers in the antebellum south. Acclaim for his work garnered the attention of the former Governor of North Carolina David Reid, who commissioned Day to create 47 furniture pieces for his home in 1855.

Despite the acclaim and praise for his work, it became increasingly hard for Day to work in North Carolina as legal proceedings and new laws challenged the status of free Black people in the days leading to the Civil War. This, combined with the 1857 financial panic, contributed to the decline of his workshop.