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- Title
- [Young African American woman]
- Description
- Sample of photo restoration work depicting a damaged and touched up bust-length portrait mounted side-by-side of a young African American woman. The woman, attired in a beret, a white shirt, and a plaid jacket, faces right with her eyes looking left., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from attire of the sitter., Gift of Joseph Kelly, 1982., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Photo Illustrators (Firm)
- Date
- [ca. 1930]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators-Non-Philadelphia-Afro-Americana
- Title
- [Unidentified African American woman]
- Description
- Three-quarter length portrait of a young woman wearing her hair parted in the middle and tied behind her head with long curly bangs and attired in a shirtwaist with buttons down the bodice and a long skirt. She sits facing slightly left with her left arm resting on the chair's armrest, which is decorated with a patterned fabric and fringe. Her right hand rests on her lap., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Possibly by Philadelphia photographer Isaac G. Tyson., Slightly discolored and faded., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [ca. 1885]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - photographer - Tyson [P.9853.1]
- Title
- The colored beauty
- Description
- Bust-length portrait of a young African American woman facing slightly right. Sitter is attired in gold drop earrings with red stones, a three-strand gold necklace with a gold pendant, and a blue dress with a white lace collar., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1872 by Currier & Ives in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington., Purchase 2004., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Currier & Ives
- Date
- 1872
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Framed graphics [P.2004.25]
- Title
- [Unidentified young African American woman]
- Description
- Bust-length portrait of a young African American woman facing slightly left. She wears her hair tied back behind her head in a bun and is attired in small hoop earrings, a puffed sleeve blouse with a high collar over her neck and decorative stripes of ribbon across the shoulders in a patterned fabric., Title supplied by cataloger., Date based on the photographer and attire of the sitter., Missing lower right corner of mount. Surface badly scratched., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Leuf, William F. J., photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1900]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits- photographer - Leuf [P.9930.3]
- Title
- [Mary Ann C. Shadd?, Washington, D.C.]
- Description
- Bust-length portrait of an African American woman, possibly American-Canadian anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher, and lawyer Mary Ann Shadd Cary. Sitter faces right and wears her long hair back and in a chignon and top knot. A head band with an ornament adorns her hair. She is attired in a dark-colored, V-neck garment with a white ruffled collar and dark-colored lace neckerchief. She also wears a cross necklace and drop earrings. Shad Cary, was born free in Delaware to parents active in the Underground Railroad, before relocating to Pennsylvania, then Canada in 1853. In later years, following the Civil War, Shad Cary resided in Washington, D.C. where she died in 1893. During her life, she founded a school for Black children in Pennsylvania and a racially integrated school in Ontario, Canada; was the first Black woman publisher in North America when she founded, in 1853, and edited the anti-slavery and civil rights advocacy newspaper "The Provincial Freeman,"; was the second Black woman to attend law school (Howard University) in the United States; and founded, in 1880, the women's rights advocacy organization the Colored Women's Progressive Franchise. Shad Cary also wrote for multiple newspapers, such as the National Era, served as a Civil War recruiter, and was the first African American woman to vote in a national election., Title from manuscript note on verso: Mariann [sic] C. Shadd, Washington, D.C., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Date inferred from active dates of photographer at address listed in imprint., Henrici & Garns operated from 709 South Second Street between 1874 and 1876.
- Creator
- Henrici & Garns, photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1875]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Cary [P.2023.4]
- Title
- [Lillie Showell]
- Description
- Full-length studio portrait showing Showell, seated in a chair containing an ornate back. The young woman wears glasses and is attired in a shirtwaist and long skirt. She rests one hand on the arm of the chair and the other on her knee. A studio backdrop is visible in the background. Family lore suggests Showell, born in Philadelphia, died from the flu during the 1917-1918 pandemic following World War I. Showell, younger sister of Arthur Showell (1894-1943), resided in Maryland as a child and young adult., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Brice C. Showell.
- Date
- [ca. 1917]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait photographs - misc. - sitter - Showell [P.2015.1.2]
- Title
- Anti-slavery Token
- Description
- Reads, "Am I Not A Woman & A Sister 1838." The back reads, "United States of America." Picture of a wreath with "Liberty 1838" within it., These tokens were sold at antislavery fairs organized by abolitionist women to raise money for the cause. In this example, to avoid charges of counterfeiting, the N in United States is reversed., Gift of Chris McCauley, 1996., Exhibited in the Heritage Center at the Union League of Philadelphia exhibition, Philadelphia 1861: The Coming Storm (2011).
- Date
- 1838
- Location
- OBJ 869
- Title
- [Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning unidentified woman family member portrait]
- Description
- Half-length portrait. Shows the woman, her hair parted in the middle, and pulled back and attired in a long-sleeved dark dress adorned with a white collar and buttons down the bodice. Sitter also wears drop earrings., Title supplied by cataloger., Date from manuscript note on detached label., Accompanied by detached photographer's label., Removed to Print Department from Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning Object Collection., See Lib. Company Annual Report, 1991, p. 26-31., Gift of descendants Cordelia H. Brown, Lillie V. Dickerson, Mary Hinkson Jackson, and Georgine E. Willis in honor of Phil Lapsansky., See LCP exhibit catalogue: African American Miscellany p. 45., Genealogical charts available at repository., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points reviewed 2022.
- Creator
- Fenton, J., photographer
- Date
- Summer 1869
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning Portrait Collection [P.2012.37.4]
- Title
- The whitewasher
- Description
- Illustration shows a familiar Philadelphia character: a black, female whitewasher. The woman is dressed in work-clothes and coarse shoes; her sleeves are rolled-up and the illustrator emphasizes her muscular forearms. According to the accompanying text, the bucket on the floor contains a mixture of lime and water, with a little salt and indigo to make it clear. In the course of her work, the whitewasher dips long-handled brushes (like those seen here) into the mixture and rubs it onto the walls for cleaning., Illustration in City characters, or, familiar scenes in town (Philadelphia: Geo. S. Appleton; New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1851), p. 12., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
- Date
- [1851]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1851 Cit 68429.D p 12, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2782
- Title
- Forget me not
- Description
- Album page with an embossed border and containing a drawing of forget-me-nots. Shows a sprig of red and blue flowers, and red and blue buds, as well as green leaves. Border is composed of ornament details., Title from album page., Date inferred from complementary entries in album., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Douglass, was an artist, prominent Quaker member of the Philadelphia African American elite community, educator, and anti-slavery activist.
- Creator
- Douglass, S. M. (Sarah Mapps), 1806-1882, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1843]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Martina Dickerson album [13859.Q.83]
- Title
- [Full-length portrait of an unidentified older African American woman on a porch]
- Description
- Full-length portrait of an unidentified African American woman standing on the covered porch before the open doorway to her home. The woman, attired in a bonnet, a long-sleeved collared dress, an apron, and shoes, has her arms at her side as she smiles and looks at the viewer. She stands in front of a wooden rocking chair. On the porch, in the left, is a wooden rocking chair and a wooden crate with a milk pail and ladle on top of it., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred by attire of the sitter., Gift of Marjorie G. Battles, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [ca. 1900]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait photographs - misc. - unidentified female [P.8502.129]
- Title
- [Bust-length portrait of an unidentified African American woman]
- Description
- Bust-length portrait of a young, unidentified African American woman. The women, wearing her hair tied up and attired in a hat decorated with flowers and a dress with a large crocheted collar that extends down her chest, looks directly at the viewer., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from dates of operation of photographer and attire of the sitter., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Mount decorated with ornate border., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Rosenberg's Penny Photos, photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1900]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait photographs-misc.-unidentified female [P.9930.1]
- Title
- [Bust-length portrait of an unidentified African American woman]
- Description
- Bust-length portrait of a young unidentified African American woman. The woman, wearing her hair tied and decorated with a bow at the back of her head and attired in a long-sleeved dress in a patterned fabric with a high collar, looks directly at the viewer., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred by the dates of operation of the photographer and attire of the sitter., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Mount contains ornate border., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Rosenberg's Penny Photos, photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1900]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait photographs-misc.-unidentified female [P.9930.2]
- Title
- [Three-quarter length portrait of an unidentified African American woman]
- Description
- Three-quarter length portrait of a young African American woman. The woman, wearing her hair tied back and attired in a brimmed hat, spectacles, hoop earrings, a ring, a collared shirt, a thin bowtie, a suit jacket with lace on the lapels, and a matching skirt, sits on a wooden chair and looks at the viewer. She rests her hands together on her lap with her right elbow on the armrest and sits with her legs crossed., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from the attire of the sitter., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Withers, William C., photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1910]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *portrait photographs - unidentified sitter [P.9930.6]
- Title
- [Three-quarter length portrait of an unidentified African American woman]
- Description
- Three-quarter length portrait of an unidentified, young African American woman facing forward. She wears her hair parted to the left and pulled back over her ears and tied behind her head in a bun. She is attired in spectacles, a dark-colored, long-sleeved, satin dress with a lace collar and cuffs, and a locket. She sits on a wooden chair with her left arm draped over the arm rest and her right hand on her lap., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount., Title supplied by cataloger., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Withers, William C., photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1910]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *portrait photographs - unidentified sitter [P.9957.9]
- Title
- Julia Anderson Grannie's cook at 6610 Germantown Avenue
- Description
- Three-quarter length, forward facing portrait of Julia Anderson, an African American woman cook, seated in a large, wooden chair. Anderson, wearing her hair tied back and attired in hoop earrings and a long-sleeved, dark-colored, satin dress, sits with her right arm on the chair’s armrest and her left hand resting on her lap., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date inferred from dates of operation of the photographer and attire of the sitter., Photographer's blindstamp on recto., Mount contains embossed border., Gift of Mrs. E. Perot Walker, 1980., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- New Richmond Studio, photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1900]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department misc. portrait photographs - identified - Anderson [P.8514.87]
- Title
- [Unidentified African American woman]
- Description
- Near full-length portrait showing an African American woman attired in a narrow-brimmed, high-domed, ornamented bonnet; dark-colored, button-down shirt waist; and white skirt with ruching at the hips. A broach with a four-leaf clover detail adorns her collar. She stands between a post to her right and a stringy, hay bale-like prop to her left. She rests her left hand on the prop and holds a parasol perpendicular to the floor in her right. A photographer's head clamp is positioned to the left of the post and a backdrop illustrated with an outdoor setting is visible in the background. The studio is partially visible in the left of the image., Title supplied by cataloger., Accompanied by detached photographer's label (P.2017.14.4b)., Date inferred from "N.B." on photographer's label., Description and access points reviewed 2022.
- Creator
- Fenton, J., photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1867]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department tintypes - photographer - Fenton [P.2017.14.4a&b]
- Title
- I sell the shadow to support the substance. Sojourner Truth
- Description
- Three-quarter length portrait of the African American itinerant preacher, abolitionist, and women's rights advocate born into slavery and originally known as Isabella Baumfree. Shows Truth, seated, and attired in a dark-colored, long sleeved dress with white collar, white shawl with fringe, and a white cap. She wears wire-rimmed glasses and faces front and is turned slightly to her left. She holds knitting in her left hand which rests on a small table that has a decorative table cloth. A notebook and vase of flowers adorn the table. A string of yarn runs across her lap. Truth escaped to freedom in 1826. During the period of the Civil War, Truth captioned, marketed, copyrighted, and sold at least eleven different carte-de-visite portraits of herself at her lectures and through the mail to earn personal funds and advocate for the abolition of slavery. Her knitting probably alludes to her promotion of the handcraft as an industry for advancement for former enslaved persons., Title from item., Publication information from copyright statement on verso: Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1864, by Sojourner Truth, in the Clerk's Office, of the U. S. District Court, for the Eastern District of Mich., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2016, p. 66-67., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Date
- 1864
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Truth [P.2017.27]
- Title
- [Sarah E. Showell]
- Description
- Cameo portrait showing Showell from the bust up. She wears a shirtwaist and possibly a tie. Family lore suggests Showell died from the flu during the 1917-1918 pandemic following World War I. Showell, younger sister of Arthur Showell (1894-1943), was born and resided in Maryland as a child and young adult., Title supplied by cataloguer., Gift of Brice C. Showell., Very worn condition.
- Date
- [ca. 1917]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait photographs - misc. - sitter - Showell [P.2015.1.3]
- Title
- The laundress
- Description
- Illustration shows a familiar Philadelphia character: a black laundress. She is neatly dressed in a long, flowing skirt; and her head is covered with an untied bonnet. "This woman," as the accompanying text explains, "is engaged by rich people to wash and iron clothes, which have been soiled by wearing." The text continues, "The woman in the picture looks as though she had just finished a hard day's work and was taking clothes home to the owners; she what a large basket she carries. It is full of articles of clothing neatly folded up; and this shows how much the woman has done in one day.", Illustration in City Characters, or, Familiar Scenes in Town (Philadelphia: Geo. S. Appleton; New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1851), p. 32., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
- Date
- [1851]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1851 Cit 68429.D p 32, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2783
- Title
- The desperation of a mother
- Description
- With an axe in one hand and a candle in the other, a slave woman kneels in the cramped attic space where her two young sons sleep on the floor. Hovering above the boys, she shines her light upon them before killing them. According to an accompanying text, she then kills herself., Caption title vignette in the Anti-Slavery Record (New York: Published by R.G. Williams, for the American Anti-Slavery Society, 1835-1837), vol. I, no. 9, p. 97., Small caption underneath the image reads: "Why do you narrate the extraordinary cases of cruelty? These stories will not convert the cruel, and the wound the feelings of masters who are not son." REPLY. Cruelty is the fruit of the system., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Anti-Slavery Movement Imagery.
- Date
- [September 1835]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per A 245 16998.D v 1 n 9 cover page, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2858
- Title
- The cook
- Description
- As the title suggests, the engraving is a portrait of a Virginia cook, whom Crayon described as "not merely a black woman, . . . but one bearing a patent stamp by the broad seal of Nature; the type of a class whose skill is not of books or training, but a gift both rich and rare -- who flourishes her spit as Amphitrite does her trident (or her husband's, which is all the same), whose ladle is as a royal sceptre in her hands, who has grown sleek and fat on the steam of her own genius, whose children have the first dip in all gravies, the exclusive right to all livers and gizzards, not to mention breasts of fried chickens -- who brazens her mistress, boxes her scullions, and scalds the dogs . . . ." (p. 176) Shown in her kitchen, the stout cook wears an apron and a kerchief, and is surrounded by bowls, buckets, a grill, and cooking utensils., Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 12, no. 68 (January 1856), p. 177., Engraving accompanies Porte Crayon's [i.e., David Hunter Srother's] "Virginia Illustrated. Adventures of Porte Crayon and his Cousins," which was published in book form in 1857. See David Hunter Strother, Virginia Illustrated (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1857)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
- Date
- [January 1856]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 12 n 68 January 1856 p 177, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2870
- Title
- [Women posed at Glendinning Rock Gardens, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia]
- Description
- Scene showing well-dressed women, including an African American woman, posed in the Glendinning Rock Gardens in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. Shows nine women, attired in dresses, sitting and standing on the rocks around the pond and on the incline leading up to the stone wall. The garden, built in 1936 at the bequest of Fairmount Park Commission board member Colonel Robert Glendinning and his wife Elizabeth, is one of the most unusual in the country containing an atypical variety of species of shrubs, herbs, and trees., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and attire of the people., Manuscript note on verso: Glend[i]nning Rock Gardens, Fairmount Park., Gift of Joseph Kelly, 1982., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Photo Illustrators (Firm), photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1957]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators [P.8809.1]
- Title
- A mark of friendship's pleasing power
- Description
- Album page with embossed border and containing a drawing depicting a bunch of flowers above a four-line sentimental poem about friendship and rememberance. Flowers include a rose. Other flowers are depicted in the colors of orange, red, and violet. Image also includes a stem and leaves., Title from manuscript verse., Probably by civil rights activist and educator Ada Howell Hinton who founded a school in 1849. Hinton was daughter of Philadelphia African American elite community member, barber, perfumer, and abolitionist Frederick Augustus Hinton., Contains four lines of verse: A mark of friendship pleasing power,/In this small trifle see/And sometimes in a lonely hour,/View it and think of me., RVCDC, Description revised 2022.
- Date
- ca. 1840
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Martina Dickerson album [13859.Q.73]
- Title
- [Vase of flowers]
- Description
- Album page with embossed border and containing a drawing of a vase of flowers. Shows an arrangement of flowers including roses, camellias, pansies and forget-me-nots, in an urn-shaped vase. Border is composed of a leaf design., Title supplied by cataloguer., Date from album page., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Douglass, was an artist, prominent Quaker member of the Philadelphia African American elite community, educator, and anti-slavery activist.
- Creator
- Douglass, S. M. (Sarah Mapps), 1806-1882, artist
- Date
- 1843
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Martina Dickerson album [13859.Q.78]
- Title
- [Assorted flowers]
- Description
- Album page containing a pencil drawing of an arrangement of assorted flowers of different varieties drawn when the album was in a horizontal position. Arrangment also includes leaves and flower buds., Title supplied by cataloguer., Date from item., Probably by Lydia A. Bustill., Lydia A. Bustill, was an anti-slavery activist and cousin of educator, artist, and anti-slavery activist Sarah Mapps Douglass., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Date
- [October, 1841]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Amy Matilda Cassey album [P.9764.52]
- Title
- [Rose with open scroll]
- Description
- Album page containing an incomplete drawing of a spray of red rose and three rose buds behind a blank open scroll. The stems of the flowers are depicted with thorns. Image possibly corresponds to an 1849 entry written by African Methodist Episcopal Bishop Daniel Alexander Payne (1811-1893) about the death of his wife and daughter that began, “Just by the side of this Rose, there grew a Rose-bud perfectly formed and softly tinged with the brightest carmine ….” (verso of p.64-66)., Title supplied by cataloguer., Date estimated from span of dates of dated entries within album., Possibly by Amy Matilda Cassey., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Date
- [ca. 1845]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Amy Matilda Cassey album [P.9764.62]
- Title
- [Floral watercolor]
- Description
- Album page containing a drawing of a rose bud. The rose bud is depicted on a stem with a number of leaves and thorns., Probably by educator and anti-slavery activist Ada Howell Hinton, daughter of Frederick Augustus Hinton, barber, perfumer, abolitionist, and prominent member of the Philadelphia African American elite community., RVCDC, Description revised in 2022., Access points revised in 2022.
- Date
- [ca. 1840]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Mary Anne Dickerson album [13860.Q.69]
- Title
- Fuchsia
- Description
- Album page containing a drawing of a stem of fuchsia with four flowers copied after a figure in a plate from James Andrews' Lessons in Flower Painting. A Series...(London: Charles Tilt, Fleet Street; John Menzies, Edinburgh; Thomas Wardle, Philadelphia [1836]), pl. 11. (LCP Am 1836 And, 13878.Q). The fuchsia is depicted with the blue petals, red sepals, and pink stamens of the flowers facing down. Image is also composed with the bud of a flower at the end of the stem that has multiple green leaves., Title and date from item., LCP exhibit catalogue: African American Miscellany p.45., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Douglass, was an artist, educator, community activist, and prominent Quaker member of the Philadelphia African American elite community. Mary Anne Dickerson was her pupil.
- Creator
- Douglass, S. M. (Sarah Mapps), 1806-1882, artist
- Date
- [July 15, 1846]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Mary Anne Dickerson album [13860.Q.75]
- Title
- "A token of love from me, to thee"
- Description
- Album page containing a drawing of a black butterfly on a twig with pink flowers. Shows the butterfly with a black head, thorax, and abdomen and black wings with specks of green and red. The twig also contains several green leaves that fold up, fold down, and/or droop. The stem and branches of the twig are outlined with pink lines., Title from manuscript note., Date inferred from complementary entries in album., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Douglass, was an artist, prominent Quaker member of the Philadelphia African American elite community, educator, and anti-slavery activist.
- Creator
- Douglass, S. M. (Sarah Mapps), 1806-1882, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Amy Matilda Cassey album [P.9764.2]
- Title
- "I love a flower!"
- Description
- Album page containing a drawing of a wild pink rose above eight lines of allegorical verse about the beauty of flowers. Shows the rose with a stem, five green leaves surrounding the petals, and two buds., Title from manuscript verse., Date inferred from complementary entries in album., Contains eight lines of verse: I love a flower! it ever brings/ A warmth of feeling to my heart,/ Unlike those gay and gilded things/ That flatter coldly, coldly part./ But flowers! – Oh they are eloquent/ They speak when lips would still be dumb/ When by the hand of friendship sent,/ Her price interpreters they come., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Douglass, was an artist, prominent Quaker member of the Philadelphia African American elite community, educator, and anti-slavery activist.
- Creator
- Douglass, S. M. (Sarah Mapps), 1806-1882, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Amy Matilda Cassey album [P.9764.9]
- Title
- "Forget me not!"
- Description
- Album page containing a drawing of a stem of blue forget-me-nots above a poem about remembrance. Shows the stem with mutiple flowers and leaves., Title from manuscript verse., Date from item., Probably by Margaretta or Mary Forten, civil rights activists and members of the multiracial Pennsylvania Female Anti-Slavery Society. The women were the daughters of Philadelphia African American entrepreneur and abolitionist James Forten and abolitionist Charlotte Vandine Forten, Contains lines of verse: Forget me not”!—how sweet the token,/ When early hours have faded long,/ And hopes as well as hearts are broken,/ To know they still exist in song!/ Thus, may the exile fondly dream of/ Many a dear and transie[n]t ray/ And watchful memory catch a gleam/ Each colouring of a by-gone day. What tho the wave with ceaseless motion/ Protracts the union of o’er lot:—/ Our Hope’s the rock, which stems Time’s ocean,/ Our Love’s the flower, “Forget Me Not.” Excerpt adapted from poem by William G. Simms Jr., “The ‘Forget Me Not,’” in Early Lays (Charleston, South Carolina: A. E. Miller, 1827)., Manuscript of "Philadelphia" outlined with dots., Manuscript numbers for year "1834" formed with dots., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Date
- [1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Amy Matilda Cassey album [P.9764.14]
- Title
- "Long long be thy heart with your memory fill'd..."
- Description
- Album page containing a drawing of a white vase of flowers on a square-shaped base and above a poem about memory and remembrance. Flowers depicted are of various kinds and include roses. They are long-stemmed, have leaves, and are in colors of pink, red, yellow, white and blue., Title from manuscript verse., Date inferred from complementary entries in album., Contains four lines of verse: Long, long be my heart with your memory fill’d!—/Like the vase in which roses have once been distill’d—/ You may break, you may ruin the vase if you will;/ But the scent of the roses will hang round it still., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Forten, was a civil rights activist, founding member of the multiracial Pennsylvania Female Anti-Slavery Society, and educator. She was the daughter of Philadelphia African American entrepreneur and abolitionist James Forten and abolitionist Charlotte Vandine Forten.
- Creator
- Forten, Margaretta, 1806-1875, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1834]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Amy Matilda Cassey album [P.9764.16]
- Title
- [Vase of flowers]
- Description
- Album page containing a drawing of a white, urn-shaped vase of flowers. A variety of flowers are depicted including a pink rose and white lilies. Leaves also comprise the depicted floral display., Title supplied by cataloguer., Possibly by Amy Matilda Cassey., Date estimated from span of dates of dated entries within album., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Date
- [ca. 1845]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Amy Matilda Cassey album [P.9764.21]
- Title
- No marvel woman should love flowers
- Description
- Album page containing a drawing of coupled red and blue flowers above six lines of allegorical verse about unappreciated beauty. Shows the red camellia with fluffy stamens below three, five-petal blue flowers, possibly forget-me-nots. The flowers are also depicted with buds, leaves, and stems. The stem of the red flower contains thorns., Title from manuscript verse., Date inferred from complementary entries in album., Contains six lines of verse: No marvel woman should love flowers, they bear/ So much of fanciful similitude/ To her own history; like herself repaying/ With such sweet interest all the cherishing/ That calls their beauty or their sweetness forth;/ And like her too—dying beneath neglect. Verse from a poem by English writer Letitia Elizabeth Landon that was frequently published, including in the Ladies’ Miscellany (Salem, Mass., April 7, 1830)., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Douglass, was an artist, prominent Quaker member of the Philadelphia African American elite community, educator, and anti-slavery activist.
- Creator
- Douglass, S. M. (Sarah Mapps), 1806-1882, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1833]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Amy Matilda Cassey album [P.9764.24]
- Title
- [Honeysuckle]
- Description
- Depicts a stem of honeysuckle., Title supplied by cataloger., Name of artist from manuscript note on verso., Gift of William Woys Weaver, 1995., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Douglass, an artist and prominent Quaker member of the Philadelphia African American elite, was best known as an educator and community activist.
- Creator
- Douglass, S. M. (Sarah Mapps), 1806-1882, artist
- Date
- [ca. 1845]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Drawings & Watercolors-Douglass [P.9493]
- Title
- [Unidentified young African American woman]
- Description
- Full-length portrait of a young African American woman standing and resting her left hand on the balustrade behind her. She wears her hair tied behind her head and is attired in a fur cap and a long-sleeved dress which has large, decorative buttons that are placed in the middle and run the length of the dress flanked on either side with pleated ruffles with two rows of ruffles around the base of the skirt. In the right is a table covered in a tablecloth and a drape which hangs down., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint including vignette and business advertisement stamped on verso., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Parlor Galleries operated at 523 South 9th Street from 1876 to 1885.
- Creator
- Parlor Gallery (Firm), photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1881]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits – photographer – Parlor [P.9900.12]
- Title
- [Bust-length portrait of an unidentified young African American woman]
- Description
- Bust-length portrait of an unidentified young African American woman slightly facing right. Her hair is parted in the center and pulled back, and she is attired in a high collared shirt with shoulder flounces with lace trim and a stick pin at her neck., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from dates of operation of the photographer and attire of the sitter., Photographer's imprint with insignia stamped on mount., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Gilbert, Conrad M., photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1893]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits - photographer - Gilbert [P.9853.2]
- Title
- [Three-quarter length portrait of an unidentified young African American woman]
- Description
- Three-quarter length portrait of a young African American woman standing and facing the viewer. She wears her hair tied back and is attired in a brimmed, straw hat adorned with ribbons and flowers, a high-collared shirtwaist with narrow sleeves puffed at the shoulders, a belt with a decorative clasp at the center, and several rings on her left hand. She holds flowers in her hands which she rests on top of an upholstered chair that is in front of her. In the right is a side table covered in a patterned tablecloth with two books and a basket of flowers on top of it., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from operation of the photography studio and attire of the sitter., Purchase 1998., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Parlor Gallery, operated by Lewis Horning, was in business at 525 South 9th Street from circa 1886 until circa 1894.
- Creator
- Parlor Gallery (Firm), photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1891]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits - photographer - Parlor [P.9573.1]
- Title
- [Three-quarter length portrait of an unidentified young African American woman]
- Description
- Three-quarter length portrait of an unidentified young African American woman standing and slightly facing right. She wears he hair tied back with bangs of curls on her forehead and is attired in a dark velvet basque shirt jacket with buttons down the bodice, a floral printed skirt, earrings, bracelets on both wrists, and a pin. She is posed beside a plaster tree stump, which she rests her hands on. In the background is a painted backdrop with trees., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount., Date inferred from dates of operation of photographer and attire of the sitter., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Snyder & Walton, photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1893]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits - photographer - Snyder [P.9853.4]
- Title
- Lines Bros., the largest retail dealers in the state! Proprietors of ten shoe stores. Buffalo store- 95 [Seneca St.]. Boots, shoes & rubber goods. Low prices. Plain figures
- Description
- Racist trade card depicting a comic scene between an African American woman and African American man. Shows the woman hitting a man in the face with the back of her right hand. She clutches an umbrella in her left hand. The man falls backwards with his arms and legs splayed out. The woman is attired in a long striped dress, a dot-patterned apron, and a hat with a flower adornment. She is portrayed with exaggerated features., Title from item., Date inferred from 1884 Buffalo City Directory., Image caption on recto: A mistaken identity., Adverstising text on verso: Lines Bros., Largest Retail Dealers in the State Proprietors of Ten Shoe Stores! Buffalo Store, No. 95 E. Seneca St., Boots, Shoes & Rubber Goods. Stores at Troy, Albany, Geneva, Elmira, Buffalo, Lockport, Rochester, Amsterdam, Schenectady, and Canandaigua., Place of publication inferred from place of business advertised., Gift of David Doret.
- Date
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Lines [P.2017.95.108]
- Title
- Amy Smith, April 17, 1876
- Description
- Half-length portrait of Smith, a young African American woman, posed to the left. She looks forward toward the viewer. She wears a plaid-patterned garment, a white, upturned collar, and a bowtie-like ribbon at her neck. Her hair is pulled back and she wears a hair band. Smith, born in Virginia resided in Philadelphia by 1870. Smith was buried at the Harmony Burial Ground, the burial ground of the African Friends to Harmony at 41st and Chestnut Street in West Philadephia. African Friends, founded in 1826, sought to provide a cemetery for low-income African Americans to be interred with dignity and respect. Several of those buried in the cemetery were associated with the Monument Baptist Church or the Mount Pisgah A.M.E. Church. The property was sold in 1910. In 2020, the remains of over 160 burials were transferred to Eden Cemetery., Title from manuscript note on mount., Photographer's imprint printed on verso., Printed on verso: No. [57860]. Duplicated any time if orderd by the original, or by a responsible person., Manuscript note on verso: died March 23d 1878., Partially purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC
- Creator
- Reimer, Benjamin F., approximately 1826-1899, photographer
- Date
- [1876]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Smith [P.2023.17.1]
- Title
- The Universal clothes wringer
- Description
- Metamorphic trade card promoting the American Wringer Company's Universal Wringer. Depicts a racist "before and after" scene with and without the product. The before scene shows an African American laundress "Dinah" wringing clothes by hand over a tub. She states in vernacular speech that "de wringing am awful." A white woman chastises her to "look at these torn clothes." She holds up a square shaped cloth with tears. A clock is visible in the background. The women are shown as bust-length. Dinah wears a kerchief, an open collared shirt, and her sleeves are rolled up. The after scene shows a smiling "Dinah," wringing laundry with a "Universal" clothes wringer under the happy gaze of her employer. The women reach a hand out to one another. Dinah wears a high ruffled collar shirtwaist with a bow at her neck, long sleeves, an apron, and kerchief. A clock rests on a sideboard in the background. The American Wringer Company was established about 1861 and operated until at least the early 20th century. The company often provided a clock as a premium to purchase their laundry equipment., Title from item., Date inferred from attire of figures depicted., Text printed on recto: Oh mistis de wringing am awful, always tear de clothes 'spect dat I neber get through. What Dinah, six o'clock and not done yet! And look at these torn clothes. "What Dinah! Finished washing so soon! Why it's only three o'clock." "Hi golly! Mistis, been done dese two hours dis chile hab no more trouble, since you done got dis wringer. Neber tear de clothes neder., Advertising text on verso: The Universal Wringer Has the Following Points of Superiority. 1. Rolls of Solid White Rubber. 2. Rowell's Double Cog-wheels. 3. Two Independent Pressure Screws. 4. Double cogs at both ends of each Roll. 5. Folding Apron or Clothes Guide. 6. Rocking Springs of wood and rubber. N. P. Baker, Dealer in General Merchandise, Sunapee, N. H., Purchased with funds from the Albert M. Greenfield Foundation., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Date
- [ca. 1885]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - American [113420.D]
- Title
- [Millie and Christine McCoy]
- Description
- Full-length portrait of the African American women conjoined twins and performers known as the "two-headed nightingale" and "Carolina twins." The twins wear their hair parted in the middle and in curls and with floral hair adornments at their crowns. They are attired in short-sleeved dresses with lace trim and black boots with heels. They also wear bracelets. They stand posed in front of a balustrade and beside a guitar and arranged branches. They were born in Whiteville, North Carolina on July 11, 1851, to Jacob and Monemia McKoy who were enslaved to Jabez McKay. Various enslavers and managers exhibited the twins nationally and internationally. They performed at the Assembly Building in Philadelphia in May 1866 accompanied by the 15 year old master pianist, J.W. Minnick., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., History and medical description of the two-headed girl:...(Buffalo, N.Y.: Warren, Johnson, & Co., 1869). (LCP Am 1869 Hist, 70318.D)., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., RVCDC, Germon was a Philadelphia engraver and early photographer who produced photographic portraits at his studio, the "Temple of Art."
- Creator
- Germon, W. L. (Washington Lafayette), 1822-1877
- Date
- [ca. 1866]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Millie [P.9790]
- Title
- [Millie and Christine McCoy]
- Description
- Full-length portrait of the African American women conjoined twins and performers known as the "two-headed nightingale" and "Carolina twins." The twins wear their hair parted in the middle and in curls and with floral hair adornments at their crowns. They are attired in short-sleeved dresses with lace trim and black boots with heels. They also wear bracelets. They stand posed in front of a balustrade and beside a guitar and arranged branches. They were born in Whiteville, North Carolina on July 11, 1851, to Jacob and Monemia McKoy who were enslaved to Jabez McKay. Various enslavers and managers exhibited the twins nationally and internationally. They performed at the Assembly Building in Philadelphia in May 1866 accompanied by the 15 year old master pianist, J.W. Minnick., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., History and medical description of the two-headed girl:...(Buffalo, N.Y.: Warren, Johnson, & Co., 1869). (LCP Am 1869 Hist, 70318.D)., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., RVCDC, Germon was a Philadelphia engraver and early photographer who produced photographic portraits at his studio, the "Temple of Art."
- Creator
- Germon, W. L. (Washington Lafayette), 1822-1877
- Date
- [ca. 1866]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Millie [P.9790]
- Title
- Beauty on the street--front view E. B. Hall, druggist. Established 1852. Wellsville, N.Y
- Description
- Racist trade card promoting druggist E.B. Hall and depicting an African American woman, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a brimmed hat with decorative feathers, an elegant, long-sleeved dress with ruffles, gloves, who carries a tiny purse. She walks down the street carrying a parasol in her right hand and her small dog's leash in the other. Edwin B. Hall opened his drug in Wellsville, N.Y. in 1852., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Purchase 2001., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Digitized.
- Date
- [ca. 1880]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade card - Hall [P.9984.3]
- Title
- [Unidentified African American woman and boy]
- Description
- Copy print of a circa 1850 daguerreotype of a fair-skinned African American woman, seated, holding the hand of a fair-skinned boy, probably her son, who stands next to her. In the right, the woman wears her hair with waves, parted in the middle, and tied behind her head and is attired in a long-sleeved, striped dress with white cuffs and a white collar or scarf tied around her neck. In the left, the boy wears his hair parted to the right with waves and is attired in a long-sleeved shirt with buttons down the center, a white collar or scarf around his neck, and light-colored pants., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of unidentified portraits. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Schreiber & Son(s), a Philadelphia partnership of father, George Schreiber, and his several sons, specialists in portraiture and animal portraiture, were in business from 1857 until 1900, operating at 818 Arch Street from 1867 until 1879.
- Creator
- Schreiber & Sons, photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1872]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - photographer - Schreiber & Son [8313.F.10c]
- Title
- [Bust-length portrait of an unidentified young African American woman]
- Description
- Bust-length portrait of a young African American woman, possibly Ella Townsend, looking slightly right. She wears her hair parted in the center and tied back and is attired in a calico shirt with puff sleeves and a bib-like neckerchief adorned with a pin., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from dates of operation of photographer and attire of the sitter., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount., Manuscript note on verso: Ella Townsend. Grinaye?-Webster-Gleves., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
- Creator
- Withers, William C., photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1898]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits - photographer - Withers [P.9853.5]
- Title
- [Three-quarter length portrait of an unidentified young African American woman]
- Description
- Three-quarter length portrait of a young African American woman standing with her left hand resting on a side table covered in a patterned tablecloth. She wears her hair tied back with curls at the top of her head and is attired in a patterned shirtwaist with a high-neckline, a ruffled collar, and lace cuffs, and a matching skirt. The background is a painted backdrop of a parlor., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from operation of the photography studio and attire of the sitter., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Parlor Gallery, operated by Lewis Horning, was in business at 525 South 9th Street from around 1886 until around 1894.
- Creator
- Parlor Gallery (Firm), photographer
- Date
- [ca. 1891]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits - photographer - Parlor [P.9957.8]
- Title
- Mrs. Amanda Smith
- Description
- Three-quarter length portrait of the African American Methodist evangelist preacher, missionary, and temperance advocate who was born to enslaved parents in Maryland. Shows Smith, standing, slightly turned to her right, and attired in medium-colored, Quaker-like garb including a shawl, shirtwaist with an upright lace collar adorned with a pendant, skirt, and scoop bonnet. She holds a book, possibly a Bible, in her right hand, top edge down, and with her fingers interspersed between a few pages. A chair is partially visible in the right of the image and dark-colored drapery serves as the backdrop. Smith, her freedom bought by her father when a child, entered preaching in 1869. Known as a compelling speaker and singer, she preached at Methodist Episcopal churches throughout the East and Midwest, including Philadelphia. In 1878 she felt called to travel to Keswick, England for a Methodist convention and remained in the country to minister and then worked as a missionary in India (1879-1881) and West Africa (1882-1890). In 1890 she returned to the United States and settled in Chicago where she was also a prominent member of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (Smith joined in the 1870s). In 1893 her "Autobiography" was published, from which she began to raise funds for an orphanage for African American children. 1n 1899 the Amanda Smith Orphan's Home, later the Amanda Smith Industrial Home opened in Harvey, Il. The home was razed by fire in 1918., Title from manuscript note on verso., Photographer's imprint printed on mount., Publisher's imprint printed on verso. Also includes a vignette depicting the British coat of arms., Mount designer's imprint printed on verso., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2018, p. 59 - 60., RVCDC, Description reviewed 2022., Access points revised 2022.
- Creator
- Pettitt, Alfred, -1880
- Date
- [1878]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Smith [P.2018.13]