Defining Freedom, 1865-1890: Current Listing of Images
This gallery showcases early African American photography and reveals the ways in which everyday African Americans sought to define freedom, citizenship, and dignity after the Civil War. The selected images are primarily from personal collection.
Portraits
Image1: Charles Paxson, Rebecca, Charley and Rosa: Slave Children of New Orleans, cdv, New York, 1864.
Image 2: Countelow M. Bowles, ca 1873, cdv, W. W. Washburn, 113 Canal St, New Orleans, LA.
Born free in Virginia, C. M. Bowles held several political positions in Mississippi during Congressional Reconstruction. He served as the president of the board of police in Bolivar County, MS, state House of Representatives, 1870-71 and in the state Senate, 1872-1875 and 1877-78.
William Watson Washburn was a renown photographer who employees and trained many photographers in his New Orleans studio before and after the Civil War. The 113 Canal Street location operated from 1866 to 1881 and then relocated to another locale in the city.
Image 3: Unidentified African American woman, ca. 1905, Parlor Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
Image 4: African American girl, ca 1905, cabinet, Parlor Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
Image 5: Eliza Spriggs, rppc, ca 1900s.
Image 6: Dr. W. O. Stone, age 73, Bloomington, IN, cabinet card, 1907.
Dr. W. O. Stone was born in Oldham Co, Ky, on August 21, 1907. His parents were William Stone and Dorcas Overton. He was married to Minerva Coraline Durham and had two children. He was a 1861 graduate of Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati, 1861. He was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Bloomington, IN. His death was noted in the New York Medical Journal and the National Eclectic Medical Association Quarterly in 1919 editions.
Education
Image 1: Carolina Singers (Fairfield Normal Institute), cdv, Hovey, Philadelphia, 1873.
According to the title page of Spirituelles. Unwritten Songs of South Carolina sung by the Carolina Singers During Their Campaigns in the North in 1872-1873 (Philadelphia: H. L. Acker, ca 1873), the Fairfield Normal Institute students “object is to raise funds to meet their pressing wants. They sing the weird songs of the colored people, as they learned them in the days of slavery. Written for the First Time, From Memory, By the Carolina Singers.”
Fairfield Institute (1869-1888) was established as a grade and normal school for African Americans by the Presbyterian Church. The Winnsboro, SC school trained many, including Kelly Miller. He later received his A.M and L.L.D. From John Hopkins before serving as a long term professor and Dean at Howard University. A merger with Brainerd Institute (Chester, SC) led to its closure.
Image 2: Unidentified African American school photograph, large mounted cabinet photograph.
Image 3: Unidentified African American school photograph, large mounted cabinet photograph, ca 1900.
Irey Coleman and Mrs. Lydia identified on the back of the mat.
Image 4: Washington Day celebration at an unidentified African American school, large mounted cabinet photograph.
Image 5: Emerson College, print, courtesy of the University of South Alabama.
Image 6: 1927 Senior Class, Armstrong High School, The Browns, 603 North Second Street, Richmond, VA, large cabinet, 1927.
Named after Samuel Chapman Armstrong, Armstrong High School replaced Richmond Colored Normal and High School. The Brown Studio was founded by George O. Brown (1852-1910) in 1899. The studio primarily documented black Richmond, including school life, social events and sports. After his death, his two children, George Willis Brown and Gwendola Bessie Brown, took over the studio.
Work and Leisure
Image 1: Yreka Band with a young African American child, Miner St, Yreka, CA, 1900.
Image 2: "Mother's Club," clubwomen's group photo, ca 1890.
Image 3: African American Parade, rppc, chloride print, ca 1906-1915, location unknown.
Image 4: African American church congregation, Poplar Bluff, MO, c. early 1900s. This is one of several photographs purchased from Childress/Walton family estate.
Image 5: African American convicts with white American soldiers, ca. 1898-1899, Camp Mackenzie, Augusta, GA.
Image 6: Keystone View Company, Colored Students Plowing at Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama, stereograph.
Portraits
Image1: Charles Paxson, Rebecca, Charley and Rosa: Slave Children of New Orleans, cdv, New York, 1864.
Image 2: Countelow M. Bowles, ca 1873, cdv, W. W. Washburn, 113 Canal St, New Orleans, LA.
Born free in Virginia, C. M. Bowles held several political positions in Mississippi during Congressional Reconstruction. He served as the president of the board of police in Bolivar County, MS, state House of Representatives, 1870-71 and in the state Senate, 1872-1875 and 1877-78.
William Watson Washburn was a renown photographer who employees and trained many photographers in his New Orleans studio before and after the Civil War. The 113 Canal Street location operated from 1866 to 1881 and then relocated to another locale in the city.
Image 3: Unidentified African American woman, ca. 1905, Parlor Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
Image 4: African American girl, ca 1905, cabinet, Parlor Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.
Image 5: Eliza Spriggs, rppc, ca 1900s.
Image 6: Dr. W. O. Stone, age 73, Bloomington, IN, cabinet card, 1907.
Dr. W. O. Stone was born in Oldham Co, Ky, on August 21, 1907. His parents were William Stone and Dorcas Overton. He was married to Minerva Coraline Durham and had two children. He was a 1861 graduate of Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati, 1861. He was buried in Rose Hill Cemetery, Bloomington, IN. His death was noted in the New York Medical Journal and the National Eclectic Medical Association Quarterly in 1919 editions.
Education
Image 1: Carolina Singers (Fairfield Normal Institute), cdv, Hovey, Philadelphia, 1873.
According to the title page of Spirituelles. Unwritten Songs of South Carolina sung by the Carolina Singers During Their Campaigns in the North in 1872-1873 (Philadelphia: H. L. Acker, ca 1873), the Fairfield Normal Institute students “object is to raise funds to meet their pressing wants. They sing the weird songs of the colored people, as they learned them in the days of slavery. Written for the First Time, From Memory, By the Carolina Singers.”
Fairfield Institute (1869-1888) was established as a grade and normal school for African Americans by the Presbyterian Church. The Winnsboro, SC school trained many, including Kelly Miller. He later received his A.M and L.L.D. From John Hopkins before serving as a long term professor and Dean at Howard University. A merger with Brainerd Institute (Chester, SC) led to its closure.
Image 2: Unidentified African American school photograph, large mounted cabinet photograph.
Image 3: Unidentified African American school photograph, large mounted cabinet photograph, ca 1900.
Irey Coleman and Mrs. Lydia identified on the back of the mat.
Image 4: Washington Day celebration at an unidentified African American school, large mounted cabinet photograph.
Image 5: Emerson College, print, courtesy of the University of South Alabama.
Image 6: 1927 Senior Class, Armstrong High School, The Browns, 603 North Second Street, Richmond, VA, large cabinet, 1927.
Named after Samuel Chapman Armstrong, Armstrong High School replaced Richmond Colored Normal and High School. The Brown Studio was founded by George O. Brown (1852-1910) in 1899. The studio primarily documented black Richmond, including school life, social events and sports. After his death, his two children, George Willis Brown and Gwendola Bessie Brown, took over the studio.
Work and Leisure
Image 1: Yreka Band with a young African American child, Miner St, Yreka, CA, 1900.
Image 2: "Mother's Club," clubwomen's group photo, ca 1890.
Image 3: African American Parade, rppc, chloride print, ca 1906-1915, location unknown.
Image 4: African American church congregation, Poplar Bluff, MO, c. early 1900s. This is one of several photographs purchased from Childress/Walton family estate.
Image 5: African American convicts with white American soldiers, ca. 1898-1899, Camp Mackenzie, Augusta, GA.
Image 6: Keystone View Company, Colored Students Plowing at Tuskegee Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama, stereograph.
