Defining Freedom

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Portraits

After the Civil War, African Americans embraced photography for documenting their new identities, communities and everyday daily experiences. From studio portraits to personal photography, this cheap technology allowed them to create their own public persona for themselves. Below are some examples of cartes de visites, cabinet photographs and RPPCs (real photo postcards) of the varied uses drawn from the author's personal collection.

Historic portrait of two girls and a boy.

Historic portrait of Countelow M. Bowles, a Mississippi politician during Reconstruction.

Historic portrait of an unidentified African American woman.

Historic photograph of an unidentified African American girl.

Historic photograph of an African American woman standing and looking at the camera.

Historic photograph of Dr. W. O. Stone, an elderly African American man seated and reading a newspaper.

Education

Representing one of Reconstruction's greatest legacy, education and classroom activities served as powerful symbols of emancipation and racial progress from slavery. Photographers and engravers regularly documented African American scholars, educators, buildings and activities in the schoolrooms and from the halls of colleges and universities. Below are some examples drawn primarily from the author's personal collection.

Photograph of the Carolina Singers with four members seated in the first row and three standing behind them.

Historic classroom photograph of a segregated African American school class with teachers standing.

Class photograph of an unidentified African American school.

Historic engraving of Emerson College, an African American school in Mobile.

1927 Senior class photograph of Armstrong High School in Richmond, VA.

Work and Leisure

Photography also documented labor and leisure practices. Sometimes these images featured African Americans as props for white audiences and their expectations of labor, fitness for citizenship, and other racial understandings. In other instances, African Americans produced counter-images of black life and community values through documented parades, organizations, and other communal activities. Below are some examples drawn from the author's personal collection.

Photograph of Yreka, CA parade with an African American child featured.

Photograph of unidentified members of a Texas Club Women's group.

Photograph of an African American parade participants in a living flag formation.

Photograph of African American church members in Arkansas.

African American convicts during trenches at a Georgia military fort.

Stereoscope photograph of an African American sharecropper plowing with a donkey.