During the lifetime of the Picture This blog, we have published several dozen posts relating to some aspect of African American history. We have collected all of these posts under a single category for easy access here.
In honor of Black History Month, we will highlight a few of those posts so you can revisit images connected to Black creators and historical figures as well as read the stories behind them.
Celebrating Harriet Tubman and the Emily Howland Album
Read the story of a previously unrecorded portrait of Harriet Tubman in Celebrating Harriet Tubman and the Emily Howland Album. “The portrait is in a photo album that belonged to Emily Howland, a lifelong advocate of freedmen’s schools and women’s rights. The Library of Congress and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture partnered to acquire the album at auction last year and to conserve, catalog, and make it available to the public.”
Portrait of Harriet Tubman. Photo by Benjamin F. Powelson, 1868 or 1869. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.54230. Tubman would have been in her mid-forties at the time.
Exploring Place in African American History
Explore the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the buildings documented because of their connections to people and events significant in African American history in Exploring Place in African American History. For example: “There are buildings designed by African American architects, such as the 1918 Villa Lewaro in Westchester County, NY. The architect, Vertner Woodson Tandy, was New York’s first licensed Black architect, and his client was none other than Madam C. J. Walker, a successful African American businesswoman in the cosmetics industry.”
VIEW OF EAST ELEVATION – Villa Lewaro, North Broadway, Irvington, Westchester County, NY. Photo. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ny1336/photos.124570p Part of HABS NY,60-IRV,5-
African Americans at the Turn of the 20th Century: A Graphic Visualization
“Visitors to the 1900 Paris Exposition would have had the opportunity to view an extraordinary display of photographs, charts, publications and other items meant to demonstrate the progress and resilience of African Americans in the United States, only a few decades after the abolition of slavery. The materials were assembled by African American intellectuals Thomas J. Calloway, W. E. B. Du Bois and Daniel A. P. Murray.” See one of the charts created for the exhibit below and learn more in African Americans at the Turn of the 20th Century: A Graphic Visualization.
The Georgia Negro. City and Rural Population. 1890. Chart prepared by W. E. B. Du Bois. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.33873
Learn More:
- Revisit all of the Picture This blog posts related to African American history to date.
- Find out about events and collections during Black History Month at the Library of Congress and multiple other institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and National Archives.
- Explore Library of Congress Research Guides on African American Studies.
from Picture This: Library of Congress Prints & Photos https://blogs.loc.gov/picturethis/2023/02/stories-of-people-and-places-for-black-history-month/
