Attributed to C.R. Parker, "Portrait of Frederick" (c. 1840) (courtesy the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Mississippi Museum of Art) For decades, the truth about Frederick Baker’s life ...

In the 1840 oil painting, a man named Frederick wears a scarlet vest under his black coat and a blue bow tie beneath his translucent lace collar. His spine is straight, his shoulders are back. It's a ...