Search results

Title: A cotton ball
Description: Racist trade card depicting a view personifying cotton as a young African American woman. Shows the woman dancing with a large ball of cotton atop her head worn in the manner of a head dress. The woman leans to her left and kicks her right leg up as she pulls up the bottom of the skirt of her dress. The edge of her underskirt is visible. She is attired in a yellow dress patterned with black dots, a white kerchief tied around her neck, a red and white striped underskirt, and black shoes. Forestry is visible in the background. C. Meyer Jr. was a New York based fertilizer manufacturer who operated in the late 19th century., Title from item., Publication information from copyright statement: Copyright 1886. L.P. Griffith & Co. Baltimore., Advertising text printed on verso: The "Acme" Fertilizers Are Strictly Complete Manures of the Highest Grade, Guaranteed Bone Basis. Positively No Rock or Kainite Used. Guaranteed Analyses. Manufactured by C. Meyer, Jr., P.O. Box 26, Maspeth, L.I. Pure Ground Bone. Sulphate of Potash. Muriate of Potash. Dissolved Bone Black. Sulfate of Ammonia. Text surrounds table listing suitable grade (No. 1 and No. 2) of manure for specific crops, including potatoes, peas, cabbage, and corn, and the percentages of ammonia, available phosphorous acid, and actual potash of the grade of fertilizer., Gift of David Doret.
Date: 1886
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Meyer [P.2017.95.125]

Title: Concentrated leaven or bread powders
Description: Advertisement for baking powder depicting an African American woman cook, portrayed as a racist caricature, displaying her oversized bread to a white woman. In the right, the African American woman, attired in a yellow kerchief, hoop earrings, a red dress with the sleeves rolled up, a white apron, white stockings with red stripes, and yellow shoes, holds a shovel in her left hand and points to the bread with her right hand. The gargantuan bread in the pan rests on a table covered in a white tablecloth alongside other pans of baked goods. Behind the table, the brown-haired, white woman, attired in a white dress with blue stripes with lace at the neck and sleeves, holds her hands up in shock over the over-proved bread. Underneath the table, the cook’s young daughter, attired in a short-sleeved yellow dress, sits on a rug and makes bubbles with a bowl and stick to play with a cat. Image also includes an oven and a metal basin., Not in Wainwright, Title from item., Date from content., Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 40, Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings relating to Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1860]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department BW - Advertisements [(7)1322.F.441b]

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 printed 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., Distributor's name on verso: J. Russell & Co., Dealers in hardware, carpenters' and machinists' tools, 23 Dwight and 23 Race Streets, Holyoke, Mass., Gift of David Doret., Library Company holds a duplicate copy with a variant distributor [113420.D].
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection -American [P.2017.95.6]

Title: Clark's mile-end 60 spool cotton
Description: Racist trade card promoting Clark Thread Company and depicting a genre scene of an African American man and woman in conversation on a country road. The man and woman are portrayed with exaggerated features and speaking in the vernacular. Shows, in the left, the man standing on a dirt road and holding a piece of thread attached to a giant spool labeled "Clark's mile-end 60 spool thread." He is attired in black boots; yellow striped pants with patches on the knees and rolled to his calves; a white shirt; a red vest; and a green jacket. His straw hat is upturned on the ground beside him. In the right, an African American woman sits in a horse-drawn wagon holding the reins to a white horse. She tells the man, "Ef dat mile end thread don't hold, dere ain't anything - lucky I got a spool to mend yer old clos' with." She is attired in a yellow head kerchief and a red dress with yellow trim at the neck. The George A. Clark & Brother Company, manufactory of embroidery and sewing thread, was founded in 1863 in Newark, N.J. The firm was renamed Clark & Co. in 1879, and in the 1880s created a six-cord, soft finished thread called "Our New Thread" or "O.N.T." The business merged with J. & P. Coats in 1896, which lead to a series of mergers with fourteen other companies. Into the 21st century, the company continues to manufacture thread under the name Coats & Clark., Title from item., Place of publication deduced from place of operation of advertised business., Date deduced from history of the advertised business., Text on recto: Ef dat mile end thread don't hold, dere ain't anything- lucky I got a spool to mend yer old clos' with., Advertising text printed on verso: Clark's Mile-End Spool Cotton is the best for hand and machine sewing. Clark's Mile-End Colors are made expressly to match the leading shades of dress goods, and are unsurpassed both in quality and color. Clark's Mile-End Spool Cotton is six-cord in all numbers to 100 inclusive., Stamp on the recto is illegible., See related copy: Goldman Trade Card Collection - Clark [P.2017.95.33]., Gift of George Allen, 2022., RVCDC
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Trade cards - C - Clark's [P.2022.42.7]

Title: People's boot and shoe store, 104 Clark Street, corner Washington Street The return from Europe
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting a group of well-dressed African American men and women strutting past other African American men, women, and children. The two well-dressed men are attired in striped pants, suit jackets, collared shirts, bow ties, and top hats. They both carry canes. The two well-dressed women are attired in frilled patterned long sleeved dresses and caps. One woman carries a parasol in her gloved hand. The other carries a handkerchief. The onlookers are dressed in plain clothing. A dog, a tree, a small wooden house, and a fence are visible in the image. The figures are depicted with exaggerated features. The illustration is based on one of a series of racist cartoons drawn by Sol Eytinge and printed in Harper's Weekly in 1878 which depicts the courtship and marriage of families by "The Twins." C.E. Wiswall & Co. was a boot and shoe company based in Chicago. The company's original building burned down durin gthe Chicago Fire of 1871., Title from item., Advertsising text printed on verso: Try us for your next pair of boots and shoes. We will give you a good article at a low price. C.E. Wiswall & Co., Proprietors., Based on "No. 8 Return from the honeymoon tour," photo - 5 x 7 - Unid. - Events [P.2017.26.7], Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - People [P.2017.95.144]

Title: [Set of six African American caricature trade cards advertising Franz Aman, wine, liquor, and lager beer saloon, no. 727 North Second Street, Philadelphia]
Description: Set of racist trade cards, some captioned, depicting African American male and female caricatures and stereotypes. Figures portrayed with malproportioned facial features. Captioned cards include "A New Coon in Town" showing an African American dandy, with a cigarette in his mouth, and attired in a grey bowler, purple jacket with flower boutonnière, red stiff-collared shirt, blue checkered pants, and red socks accessorized with yellow gloves, a monocle, and an umbrella; "Bones" showing an African American minstrel performer, attired in a ruffled clown collared shirt and red jacket with tails while playing sticks above his head and side kicking; and "Did you see me" showing a comic African American male figure, holding his bowler in the air and with one foot extended toward the viewer ("Did you see me" written on the sole of his foot). Uncaptioned cards depict an African American minstrel figure, attired in a ruffled collared shirt, seated, and holding a tambourine on his knee (probably originally captioned 'I don't do this for a livin"); an older African American woman, attired in a bonnet, shawl, and apron, resembling a cook and smoking a pipe (probably originally captioned "Just like the old me"); and a curvaceous African American woman attired in a red hat, square neck, knee-length dress, sash, and red stockings while side stepping. Cards advertise the saloon operated by Franz Aman at the address listed 1886-1888, a period when "Coon" songs were a fad. The "Bones" and "Tambourine" figures were often a part of the standard first act of a three-act minstrel performance, Title supplied by cataloger., Two of the six cards contain slightly legible captions printed over with gold ink.
Date: [ca. 1886]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department trade cards - Aman [P.2014.26.1]

Title: Cotton field
Description: Depicts African American women and children picking and collecting cotton in the field. In the center, an African American woman, attired in a short-sleeved dress, stands facing left with a bag slung over her shoulder. In the left, a child looks at the viewer, and an African American woman, attired in a dress with the sleeves rolled to the elbows and an apron, holds cotton in her hands in front of a large basket filled with cotton. In the right, a young girl holds a large basket filled with cotton on her head. Two more women and a child look at the viewer. In the background is a house and trees., Contains paper label on verso printed by Jas. L. Gow, including photographer's imprint and advertisement: A large stock of Views of Negro Groups, Cabins, Teams, Cotton Fields, and Plants, etc. kept constantly on hand. Also, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina Views., Yellow mount with rounded corners., Advertised in The Philadelphia photographer, March 1875, p. 96., Purchase 2002., 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., James A. Palmer (1825-1896) was an Irish American photographer who produced thousands of stereographs about life in Aiken, South Carolina and Georgia, specializing in photographs of the African American community.
Creator: Palmer, J. A., photographer
Date: [ca. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - miscellaneous photographer - Palmer [P.2002.4.6]

Title: [Group portrait of members of the First Association of Spiritualists, Philadelphia]
Description: Depicts the members, including two African American women, on the steps of their temple completed in 1901 at 12th and Thompson Streets. Shows the men and women standing on the sidewalk, on the steps, and in front of the open door before the entrance. Mounted on the brick wall is a plaque that reads, Temple First Association of Spiritualists. Rev. Will. J. Erwood…” The First Association of Spiritualists was a religious group that began as a benevolent society in 1852 in search of spiritual truth through spirit guides, seances, and science., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from postcard type and attire of the sitters., Azo postcard., See Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh’s “Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People’s Photography,” (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2006), p. 223., Gift of Chris Boas, 1990., 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., Keith was a Philadelphia photographer who specialized in portraiture, mainly of working-class Philadelphians in South Philadelphia and Kensington from the late 1910s to the 1940s.
Creator: Keith, John Frank, 1883-1947, photographer
Date: [ca. 1917]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photographs - Keith [P.9295]

Title: [Group portrait of members of the First Association of Spiritualists, Philadelphia]
Description: Depicts the members, including two African American women, on the steps of their temple completed in 1901 at 12th and Thompson Streets. Shows the men and women standing on the sidewalk, on the steps, and in front of the open door before the entrance. Mounted on the brick wall is a plaque that reads, Temple First Association of Spiritualists. Rev. Will. J. Erwood…” The First Association of Spiritualists was a religious group that began as a benevolent society in 1852 in search of spiritual truth through spirit guides, seances, and science., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from postcard type and attire of the sitters., Azo postcard., See Robert Bogdan and Todd Weseloh’s “Real Photo Postcard Guide: The People’s Photography,” (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2006), p. 223., Gift of Chris Boas, 1990., 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., Keith was a Philadelphia photographer who specialized in portraiture, mainly of working-class Philadelphians in South Philadelphia and Kensington from the late 1910s to the 1940s.
Creator: Keith, John Frank, 1883-1947, photographer
Date: [ca. 1917]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photographs - Keith [P.9295]

Title: [Portrait of an African American family]
Description: Family portrait of several generations of a middle-class African American family posed in front of a Christmas tree. The family, attired in suits and dresses, sit and stand in the living room. In the foreground, an African American boy sits on the floor, crossed legged, and smiles at the viewer. Behind him, seven men and women sit on chairs. Two young girls sit on the laps of the older men. Nine men and women stand behind the chairs. In the background, the top of a decorated Christmas tree is visible., Title supplied by cataloger., Date written on recto: Mosby 1936., Purchase 1993., 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: 1936
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department group portrait photographs - family [P.9410.31]

Title: Tobacco - Virginia
Description: View showing a tobacco field near a Virginia road. In the foreground, tobacco plants grow. An African American man and woman, possibly agricultural workers, walk near a large, wooden shed in the field. In the left, a car drives down the road towards the viewer., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date inferred from photographic medium and car in the photograph., 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. 1935]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators - Non-Philadelphia - Afro-Americana

Title: [African American man delivering firewood to an African American woman]
Description: Depicts an older African American woman standing in her doorway receiving firewood from an older African American man. The woman, wearing white hair and attired in a long-sleeved dress, a torn and worn apron, and shoes, stands in the doorway of her wooden house with her arms crossed at her waist. In the right, the man, wearing white hair, a torn and worn coat with patches, pants, and shoes, stands with a large bundle of firewood in his hands. In the left are wooden buckets and a bowl., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Elsie Wood Harmon, 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., Wood, a Philadelphia artist, turned to photography in the 1880s exhibiting his work, including genre studies of African Americans, at national and international photography exhibitions. His photographs won several prizes.
Creator: Wood, George Bacon, 1832-1909, photographer
Date: [ca. 1886]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Wood [P.8743.178]

Title: Dr. W. W. Wogan
Description: Racist trade card promoting dentist Dr. William W. Wogan and depicting a caricature an African American woman dancing. Shows the woman portrayed with exaggerated features and attired in floral headband, red hoop earrings, green gloves, a pink dress with a white collar and white lace petticoat, and white shoes. She holds her skirt up with her left hand and sticks her left foot forward in a dance step. She tilts her face to the left and curves her right arm up. William W. Wogan (1864-1934) was a dentist in York, Pa., Title from item., Place of publication deduced from place of operation of the advertised business., Date deduced from the history of the advertised business., Advertising text printed on verso: Go to Dr. Wogan, to have your teeth extracted. Full sets of teeth from $5.00 to $10.00. All kinds of work done as cheap as elsewhere and satisfaction guaranteed. 12 W. Market Street, York, PA., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Wogan [P.2017.95.193]

Title: "They all do it"
Description: Racist trade card specimen depicting a caricature of an African American man kissing a caricature of an African American woman on a bench in front of a house while people look on. Shows the African American man, attired in a hat, a white collared shirt, a waistcoat, a black jacket, plaid pants, and shoes, sitting on a bench. He carries a stick in his left hand and wraps his right arm around the African American woman’s neck and kisses her cheek. The woman, attired in a long-sleeved dress and apron, sits next to the man on the bench. She holds a flower in her hand on her lap and smiles. In the house behind the bench, a man, a woman, and a boy look down and smile at the couple from the second story window. In the left, a boy, attired in a hat, a long-sleeved shirt, and pants with a suspender, sits on the wooden fence with his back turned to the viewer. In the foreground is a dog scratching its ear., Title from item., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. - They [P.2017.95.209]

Title: [Two African American women domestics baking bread]
Description: Racist, trade card specimen depicting caricatures of two African American women domestics portrayed with exaggerated features baking bread. In the left, shows an African American woman, attired in a striped head kerchief, hoop earrings, a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and a brown skirt, standing behind a table. She mixes dough in a large bowl with her right hand and reaches her left hand to a bag of flour. In the right, another African American woman, attired in a white and gray striped shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, a white apron, and a dark green skirt, smiles at the viewer as she holds up a large loaf of bread., Title supplied by cataloger., Date deduced from the visual content., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misc. 16 [P.2017.95.227]

Title: [Copy photograph of African American woman caregiver with her young white charges]
Description: Copy photograph of a circa 1860 three-quarter length portrait of a young African American woman caregiver, seated, and with a white baby on her lap and a young white boy standing to her left. The caregiver has her right hand resting on the head of the baby and her left arm wrapped around his/her waist. The baby wears a medium-colored dress, which their nanny's hand has slightly tugged up. The baby has their left hand in their mouth. The nanny wears her long, wavy dark hair, parted in the center, and pulled away from her face. She is attired in a patterned shirt waist and dark satin skirt with crinoline underneath. The boy to her left wears a dark-colored, mandarin-style jacket and dark pants. All the sitters look straight at the viewer., Title supplied by cataloger., Date based on type of mount and address of photographer., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount and verso. Imprint on verso includes decorative insignia composed of an ornamented letter "G" with a coat of arms in its interior. The coat of arms includes a lion and bird., Inscribed in pencil on verso: 100801., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program (Junto 2015)., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Gutekunst, Frederick, 1831-1917, photographer
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits - photo - Gutekunst [P.2016.17.2]

Title: Buy clothing for self & boys of Tefft & Boswell, the great Oak Hall clothiers, No. 70 E. Main-St. Amsterdam, N.Y
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting an African American woman walking past a white man. The woman is attired in a straw hat, a dot-patterned dress with a ruffled collar, and flat shoes. She holds a basket filled with flowers in her right arm. The white man is attired in a checker-patterned suit and a top hat. He holds an upturned cane in his right hand and tips the brim of his hat with his left hand. Tefft & Boswell was a clothing business in Amsterdam, New York owned by H.J. Boswell and founded in 1883., Title from item., Text printed on recto: "Lord a massa I done gone made a mash!", Series no. 414 printed in right corner on recto., Place of publication deduced from place of operation of advertised business., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Tefft [P.2017.95.173]

Title: Dey's de irons to make de angels' robes white and smooth in de colored folk's heaven
Description: Racist trade card illustration promoting Mrs. Potts' Cold Handle Sad Iron and depicting three African American winged angels. In the foreground is an African American woman attired in a white headwrap, along-sleeved white dress, and white flat shoes. She stands with her arms wide and holds irons in both hands. In the left is a smaller boy angel who stands with his hands on his hips and in the right is an identically posed girl angel. All three figures are depicted with exaggerated figures. A box of text is superimposed over the woman angel's torso. Three irons are depicted on verso along with a disembodied hand demonstrating the detachable handle., Title from item., Advertising text printed on verso: Mrs. Potts' Cold Handle Sad Iron. Advantages: A cold detachange walnut handle, are lined with nonconducting cement. Heat quicker than other irons. Retain the heat longer. Require no holder or cloth. Do not burn the hand. Are double pointed, iron both ways, the best in use, cheap., Distributor's imprint printed on verso: Smith, Seltzer & Co., Sixth & Market Sts, Philadelphia, PA., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Mrs. Potts [P.2017.95.135]

Title: Ellen Craft, the fugitive slave
Description: Half-length portrait taken circa 1849-50 of Craft attired in the persona of Mr. William Johnson, a young, infirm enslaver. Shows the light-complexioned, multiracial Craft with one arm in a sling and wearing short hair, spectacles, a top hat, a jacket, a shirt, and a cravat. Craft and her husband William escaped slavery in Macon, GA in December 1848 by posing as a planter and his dedicated man servant. The couple arrived in Philadelphia on Christmas Day, relocating to Boston, and later London. Craft wore a sling to conceal her inability to write, as well as a poultice tied to her chin and around her head to further disguise her gender. The chin poultice was "left off in the engraving, because the likeness could not have been taken well with it on" (Craft, 35). Before publication as the frontispiece to the Craft's memoir, the portrait was separately issued and advertised by English abolitionists., Title from item., Published in Running a thousand miles for freedom; or the escape of William and Ellen Craft from slavery (London: Wm. Tweedie, 1861), frontispiece [Am 1861 Craft, 71339.D]., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., Hale and Schoff worked within blocks of the office of the abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator" in Boston. Additionally, Hale, Schoff, and Andrews were all members of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics Association., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2014, p. 37., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: J. Andrews & S. A. Schoff, engraver
Date: [ca. 1850-ca. 1861]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait prints - C [P.2014.61]

Title: [Copy photograph of African American woman caregiver with her young white charges]
Description: Copy photograph of a circa 1860 three-quarter length portrait of a young African American woman caregiver, seated, and with a white baby on her lap and a young white boy standing to her left. The caregiver has her right hand resting on the head of the baby and her left arm wrapped around his/her waist. The baby wears a medium-colored dress, which their nanny's hand has slightly tugged up. The baby has their left hand in their mouth. The nanny wears her long, wavy dark hair, parted in the center, and pulled away from her face. She is attired in a patterned shirt waist and dark satin skirt with crinoline underneath. The boy to her left wears a dark-colored, mandarin-style jacket and dark pants. All the sitters look straight at the viewer., Title supplied by cataloger., Date based on type of mount and address of photographer., Photographer's imprint stamped on mount and verso. Imprint on verso includes decorative insignia composed of an ornamented letter "G" with a coat of arms in its interior. The coat of arms includes a lion and bird., Inscribed in pencil on verso: 100801., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program (Junto 2015)., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Gutekunst, Frederick, 1831-1917, photographer
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits - photo - Gutekunst [P.2016.17.2]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. "Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings...?"
Description: Racist caricature of an African American woman shopping for a pair of "flesh coloured silk stockings" in a hosiery store with a white male sales clerk speaking with a French dialect. Depicts, in the center right, the woman standing at the counter in front of the clerk who holds up a pair of gray-colored stockings from out of a rectangular box. She is attired in a pink floral patterned dress, as well as tall, wide-brimmed pink hat adorned with several flowers, greenery, and a veil and long yellow ribbon, and yellow gloves, earrings, and blue button-up boots. She rests her yellow, flower-patterned purse on the counter and holds up a monocle from the end of her neck fob to inspect the stockings that the clerk declares are of "de first qualite!" Her red parasol rests against the counter. Rows of red, blue, and yellow stockings hang on the wall behind the clerk. The clerk is attired in a blue waistcoat with tails, a yellow vest, red cravat, and white pants. In the right, an African American woman attired in a yellow polka dot dress and tall, wide brimmed yellow hat adorned with ribbons is seen in the doorway of the shop in which multi-colored curtains hang and are pushed to the side. The wheel of a carriage is seen behind the woman. The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features. The women’s skin tone is depicted with brown hand coloring. The man is depicted with rosy cheeks and brown, curled hair., Title from print., Date from print., Inscribed: Plate XI., Inscribed: Copy Right Secured., Contains five lines of dialogue in the vernacular and dialect above the image: Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings, young man? Oui Madame! here is von pair of de first qualité!, RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, etcher
Date: May 1829
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Set) [P.2004.39.1]

Title: Sketches of character. Plate 2. At home. Plate 3. Abroad
Description: Racist caricature contrasting two scenes of the same African American couple "At Home" and "Abroad." The "At Home" scene depicts the couple in their kitchen with a wood floor washing dishes together. In the right, the woman, attired in a kerchief, short sleeves, apron, skirt, and slip on shoes, is bent over and washes the dishes in a tub on a stool. In the left, the man, barefoot and attired in a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, vest, bow tie, and pants, sits on the edge of a butcherblock table on top of which a pile of dishes rests, and dries one. The man and woman look at each other. In the background, on the wall, cooking utensils, pots and pans, and a slab of bacon hang from hooks underneath a shelf lined with cook and dishware near a large woven basket, a cupboard, and a small shelf with two bottles. The "Abroad" scene depicts the pair well attired and about to promenade down a city street, possibly Philadelphia and from near Independence Hall. The woman wears a large plumed bonnet with a veil and a ribbon tied under her chin, a blue cape over a dress giving her the appearance of a bell, and gaiter-like shoes. Her husband wears spectacles, a top hat, white shirt, yellow vest, black waist coat, grey pants, and yellow gloves. He holds a walking cane down toward the ground in his left hand and his other arm out to his companion. A guardhouse is seen in the right and the edge of a building (possibly Independence Hall) in the left. Cityscape is visible in the distant background. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in brown hand coloring., Title and date from item., Copy right secured., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2013, p. 51., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857
Date: January 12, 1830
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Set) [P.2013.74]

Title: Sketches of character. Plate 2. At home. Plate 3. Abroad
Description: Racist caricature contrasting two scenes of the same African American couple "At Home" and "Abroad." The "At Home" scene depicts the couple in their kitchen with a wood floor washing dishes together. In the right, the woman, attired in a kerchief, short sleeves, apron, skirt, and slip on shoes, is bent over and washes the dishes in a tub on a stool. In the left, the man, barefoot and attired in a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, vest, bow tie, and pants, sits on the edge of a butcherblock table on top of which a pile of dishes rests, and dries one. The man and woman look at each other. In the background, on the wall, cooking utensils, pots and pans, and a slab of bacon hang from hooks underneath a shelf lined with cook and dishware near a large woven basket, a cupboard, and a small shelf with two bottles. The "Abroad" scene depicts the pair well attired and about to promenade down a city street, possibly Philadelphia and from near Independence Hall. The woman wears a large plumed bonnet with a veil and a ribbon tied under her chin, a blue cape over a dress giving her the appearance of a bell, and gaiter-like shoes. Her husband wears spectacles, a top hat, white shirt, yellow vest, black waist coat, grey pants, and yellow gloves. He holds a walking cane down toward the ground in his left hand and his other arm out to his companion. A guardhouse is seen in the right and the edge of a building (possibly Independence Hall) in the left. Cityscape is visible in the distant background. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in brown hand coloring., Title and date from item., Copy right secured., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2013, p. 51., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857
Date: January 12, 1830
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Set) [P.2013.74]

Title: Millie Christine, "the Two Headed Nightengale."
Description: Full-length portrait of the African American conjoined twins and performers posed near an arm chair. The women are attired in a long-sleeved damask dress with front ruching. Each wears a lace neckerchief, an adornment in her hair, and earrings. Millie (on the left) holds a fan in her hands. A backdrop illustrated with a changing screen is visible in the background. The twins 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. By the end of the 1880s, the twins retired to a farm in their home state of North Carolina., Title printed on mount., Photographer's imprint printed on mount., Date inferred from address of photographer., See History and medical description of the two-headed girl:...(Buffalo, N.Y.: Warren, Johnson, & Co., 1869). (LCP Am 1869 Hist, 70318.D)., Lib. Company. Annual report, 2015, p.42-43., Purchase 2015., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., RVCDC, Horace Ollivier operated his studio from 466 5th Avenue between 1889 and 1903.
Creator: Ollivier, Horace, photographer
Date: [ca. 1889]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card - sitter - Millie [P.2015.23.2]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. "Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings...?"
Description: Racist caricature of an African American woman shopping for a pair of "flesh coloured silk stockings" in a hosiery store with a white male sales clerk speaking with a French dialect. Depicts, in the center right, the woman standing at the blue and pink counter in front of the clerk who holds up a pair of gray-colored stockings from out of a rectangular box. She is attired in a pink floral patterned dress, as well as tall, wide-brimmed blue hat adorned with several flowers, greenery, and a veil and long yellow ribbon, yellow gloves, earrings, and blue button-up boots. She rests her blue, flower-patterned purse on the counter and holds up a monocle from the end of her neck fob to inspect the stockings that the clerk declares are of "de first qualite!" Her brown parasol rests against the counter. Rows of stockings, including in the color of blue, hang on the wall behind the clerk. The clerk is attired in a green waistcoat with tails, a yellow vest, red cravat, and white pants. In the right, an African American woman attired in a yellow polka dot dress and tall, wide brimmed hat adorned with blue ribbons is seen in the doorway of the shop in which blue curtains hang and are pushed to the side. The wheel of a carriage is seen behind the woman. The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features. The women’s skin tone is depicted with black hand coloring. The man is depicted with rosy cheeks and brown, curled hair., Title from print., Date inferred from content., Inscribed: Plate XI., Inscribed: Copy Right Secured., Probably published by Sarah Hart of Philadelphia., Contains five lines of dialogue in the vernacular and dialect above the image: Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings, young man? Oui Madame! here is von pair of de first qualité!, RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, etcher
Date: [ca. 1830]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Set) [P.9701.9]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. "Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings...?"
Description: Racist caricature of an African American woman shopping for a pair of "flesh coloured silk stockings" in a hosiery store with a white male sales clerk speaking with a French dialect. Depicts, in the center right, the woman standing at the blue and white counter in front of the clerk who holds up a pair of brown-colored stockings from out of a rectangular box. She is attired in a pink floral patterned dress, as well as tall, wide-brimmed pink hat adorned with several flowers, greenery, and a veil and long yellow ribbon, white gloves, earrings, and tan button-up boots. She rests her white, flower-patterned purse on the counter and holds up a monocle from the end of her neck fob to inspect the stockings that the clerk declares are of "de first qualite!" Her green parasol rests against the counter. Rows of stockings, including in the color of blue and pink, hang on the wall behind the clerk. The clerk is attired in a tan waistcoat with tails, a white vest, purple cravat, and purple pants. In the right, an African American woman attired in a blue polka dot dress and tall, wide brimmed hat adorned with ribbons is seen in the doorway of the shop in which purple and white curtains hang and are pushed to the side. The wheel of a carriage is seen behind the woman. The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features. The women’s skin tone is depicted with black hand coloring. The man is depicted with dark brown, curled hair., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Plate 11 of the original series published in Philadelphia., After the work of Edward W. Clay., Possibly by New York lithographer Curtis Burr Graham (1814-1890)., Contains five lines of dialogue in the vernacular and dialect above the image: Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings, young man? Oui Madame! here is von pair of de first qualité!, RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1830]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (New York Set) [P.9701.10]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. "Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings...?"
Description: Racist caricature of an African American woman shopping for a pair of "flesh coloured silk stockings" in a hosiery store with a white male sales clerk speaking with a French dialect. Depicts, in the center left, the woman standing at the green counter in front of the clerk who holds up a pair of black-colored stockings from out of a rectangular box. She is attired in a pink floral patterned dress, as well as yellow tall, wide-brimmed floral-patterned hat adorned with purple flowers, greenery, and a veil and long yellow floral-patterned ribbon, yellow gloves, earrings, and green and red button-up boots. She rests her white, polka-dot-patterned purse on the counter and holds up a monocle from the end of her neck fob to inspect the stockings that the clerk declares are of "de first qualite!" Her yellow parasol rests against the counter. Rows of brown, white, pink, black, and tan stockings and fashion accessories hang on the wall behind the clerk. The clerk is attired in a green waistcoat with tails, a blue vest, white cravat, and white pants. In the left, an African American woman attired in a blue polka dot dress with pink neckerchief and tall, wide brimmed hat adorned with a veil and yellow ribbons is seen in the doorway of the shop in which multi-color curtains hang and are pushed to the side. A shelf lined with bolts of textiles hangs above the doorway. The wheel of a carriage is seen behind the woman. The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features. The woman’s skin tone is depicted with black hand coloring. The man is depicted with rosy cheeks and brown, curled hair., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., After the work of Edward W. Clay., Plate 11 of the original series of Life in Philadelphia., Contains five lines of dialogue in the vernacular and dialect above the image: Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings, young man? Oui Madame! here is von pair of de first qualité!, Inscribed: No. 9., Charles Hunt was a respected London engraver who was most known for his aquatints of sporting subjects., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1833]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London) [P.9710.9]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. "Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings...?"
Description: Racist caricature of an African American woman shopping for a pair of "flesh coloured silk stockings" in a hosiery store with a white male sales clerk speaking with a French dialect. Depicts, in the center left, the woman standing at the brown counter in front of the clerk who holds up a pair of black-colored stockings from out of a rectangular box. She is attired in a red floral patterned dress, as well as yellow tall, wide-brimmed floral-patterned hat adorned with tan flowers, greenery, and a veil and long yellow floral-patterned ribbon, white gloves, earrings, and brown button-up boots. She rests her white, polka-dot-patterned purse on the counter and holds up a monocle from the end of her neck fob to inspect the stockings that the clerk declares are of "de first qualite!" Her black parasol rests against the counter. Rows of black, white, pink, and yellow stockings and fashion accessories hang on the wall behind the clerk. The clerk is attired in a green waistcoat with tails, a blue vest, white cravat, and white pants. In the left, an African American woman attired in a white polka dot dress and tall, wide brimmed hat adorned with a veil and pink ribbons is seen in the doorway of the shop in which light blue curtains hang and are pushed to the side. A shelf lined with bolts of textiles hangs above the doorway. The wheel of a carriage is seen behind the woman. The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features. The central woman figure’s skin tone is depicted with black hand coloring and the woman figure in the doorway’s skin tone is depicted with brown hand coloring. The man is depicted with rosy cheeks and brown, curled hair., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., After the work of Edward W. Clay., Plate 11 of the original series of Life in Philadelphia., Contains five lines of dialogue in the vernacular and dialect below the image: Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings, young man? Oui Madame! here is von pair of de first qualité!, Inscribed: No. 9., Charles Hunt was a respected London engraver who was most known for his aquatints of sporting subjects., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Summers, William, artist
Date: [ca. 1860]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London) [P.9713.2]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. Sketches of character: At home. Abroad
Description: Racist caricature contrasting two scenes of the same African American couple "At Home" and "Abroad." The "At Home" scene depicts the couple in their kitchen with a wood floor washing dishes together. In the right, the woman, attired in a striped kerchief, short sleeves, apron, skirt, and slip on shoes, is bent over and washes the dishes in a tub on a stool. In the left, the man, barefoot and attired in a shirt with the sleeves rolled up, red vest, bow tie, and pants, sits on the edge of a butcherblock table on top of which a pile of dishes rests, and dries one. The man and woman look at each other. In the background, on the wall, cooking utensils, pots and pans, and a slab of bacon hang from hooks underneath a shelf lined with cook and dishware near a large woven basket, a cupboard, and a small shelf with two bottles. The "Abroad" scene depicts the pair well attired and about to promenade down a city street, possibly Philadelphia and from near Independence Hall. The woman wears a large plumed black and yellow bonnet with a veil and a ribbon tied under her chin, a blue cape over a red dress giving her the appearance of a bell, and gaiter-like shoes. Her husband wears spectacles, a top hat, red-striped shirt, vest, green waist coat, brown pants, and grey gloves. He holds a walking cane down toward the ground in his left hand and his other arm out to his companion. A guardhouse is seen in the right and the edge of a building (possibly Independence Hall) in the left. Cityscape is visible in the distant background. Figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features and their skin tone is depicted in brown hand coloring., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., Inscribed: Pl. 10., After plate by E.W. Clay originally printed by C.G. Childs and published by Clay in Philadelphia in 1830., Charles Ingrey was one of the premier London lithographic printers of the 1830s., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: Harrison, H., artist
Date: [ca. 1833]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) [P.9716]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. "Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings...?"
Description: Racist caricature of an African American woman shopping for a pair of "flesh coloured silk stockings" in a hosiery store with a white male sales clerk speaking with a French dialect. Depicts, in the center left, the woman standing at the blue counter in front of the clerk who holds up a pair of black-colored stockings from out of a rectangular box. She is attired in a yellow floral patterned dress, as well as tall, wide-brimmed floral-patterned hat adorned with yellow flowers, greenery, and a veil and long floral-patterned ribbon, white gloves, earrings, and white button-up boots. She rests her pink, polka-dot-patterned purse on the counter and holds up a monocle from the end of her neck fob to inspect the stockings that the clerk declares are of "de first qualite!" Her brown parasol rests against the counter. Rows of red, blue, brown, black, and yellow stockings and fashion accessories hang on the wall behind the clerk. The clerk is attired in a green waistcoat with tails, a blue vest, white cravat, and white pants. In the left, an African American woman attired in a pink polka dot dress and tall, wide brimmed hat adorned with a veil and green ribbons is seen in the doorway of the shop in which curtains hang and are pushed to the side. A shelf lined with bolts of textiles hangs above the doorway. The wheel of a carriage is seen behind the woman. The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features. The central woman figure’s skin tone is depicted with black hand coloring and the woman figure in the doorway’s skin tone is depicted with brown hand coloring. The man is depicted with rosy cheeks and brown, curled hair., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of publisher., After the work of Edward W. Clay., Plate 11 of the original series of Life in Philadelphia., Contains five lines of dialogue in the vernacular and dialect above the image: Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings, young man? Oui Madame! here is von pair of de first qualité!, Charles Hunt was a respected London engraver who was most known for his aquatints of sporting subjects., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [ca. 1831]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London) [P.9707.3]

Title: 2 headed girl, Millie Crissie
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 in chin-length pin curls and are attired in an off-the shoulder, short-sleeved, light-colored, calf-lengthed dress, black boots, and crown-shaped headpieces adorned with stars. Millie (left) holds a newpaper to her side in her left hand. Christine (right) holds a book in her hands in front of her. They stand, looking toward the viewer, and posed in front of a backdrop depicting a window view. The feet of a posing stand are visible behind their feet. Millie and Christine 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. In 1870, the sisters traveled and performed throughout the midwest., Title from item., Photographer's imprint printed on verso., Contains semi-legible printed ink transfer in upper edge of image., See History and medical description of the two-headed girl:...(Buffalo, N.Y.: Warren, Johnson, & Co., 1869). (LCP Am 1869 Hist, 70318.D)., RVCDC, John H. Fitzgibbon was a St. Louis photographer who began as a daguerreotypist. He operated from 116 North Fourth Street between 1866 and 1876 before founding the journal, "The St. Louis Practical Photographer and Illustrated Monthly Journal."
Creator: Fitzgibbon, John H., 1816?-1882, photographer
Date: [ca. 1870]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Millie [P.2023.28]

Title: High art and elegant clothing. Merchant tailor misfits, 400 South Eighth St., first door bel. Pine. Private house. Please ring the bell
Description: Series of racist trade cards promoting a Philadelphia clothing store and depicting African American women. An African American woman, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a striped head kerchief, a checked shawl, and a dress with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, cradles her head in her hands as she leans on the windowsill of an open window and looks at the viewer. Other card depicts an African American woman nanny, portrayed in racist caricature and attired in a head kerchief, a striped dress with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, and a checked apron, who smiles and stands behind a picket fence holding a white infant at her side., Title from item., Date inferred from content., Gift of Emily Phillips, 1883., 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 - Merchant [1975.F.583 & 584]

Title: The oysterman
Description: Plate from children's moral instruction book showing an an oysterman's horse and wagon on the side of a cobblestone street. The oysterman provides a gentleman with a sample of products from the rear of the wagon, while a young African American female waits with a basket nearby. They stand in front of a fenced-in city park area., Published in Common sights in town & country. Delineated & described for young children (Philadelphia: American Sunday-School Union, No. 146 Chestnut Street, [ca. 1853])., Accompanied by text titled "The oysterman" moralizing that prosperity comes from "the proper discharge of duty" and by being prompt and an honest businessman., Philadelphia on Stone, POS 535, Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Bd 61 K 8342.17, Atwater Kent Museum: 54.76.63.1
Creator: Kollner, Augustus, b. 1813
Date: [ca. 1853]
Location: Historical Society of Pennsylvania HSP Bd 61 K 8342.17

Title: Virginia Hall before dinner, [Hampton Institute, Va.]
Description: Film negative showing a group of well-dressed people gathered in front of Virginia Hall at Hampton Institute. White and African American men and women stand and converse in front of the brick, ivy-covered building. Several people stand on the fire escape, including a white man holding a camera taking a photograph of the scene. In the left background, a group of women sit and stand on a second-story balcony and look on. The Hampton Institute, originally the Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, was founded in 1868 by the American Missionary Association to provide education for freed Black citizens after the Civil War. It was built on the grounds of a former plantation, known as Little Scotland. The school was legally chartered in 1870 and accredited as a university in 1984. Notable graduates include Booker T. Washington. Virginia Hall was built in 1873 as the main campus building., Originally located in negative album [P.2013.13a], Gift of David Marriott Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, and William Perot Morris, 2013., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Digitization and cataloging has been made possible through the generosity of David Marriott Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, and William Perot Morris in memory of Marriott Canby Morris and his children: Elliston Perot Morris, Marriott Canby Morris Jr., and Janet Morris and in acknowledgment of his grandchildren: William Perot Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, Jonathan White Morris, and David Marriott Morris., Edited.
Creator: Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer
Date: April 24, 1912
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Marriott C. Morris Collection [P.2013.13.466]

Title: An unpleasantness in Swampoodle
Description: Photographic reproduction of a print drawn by Helen M. Colburn, daughter of New Jersey artist Rembrandt Lockwood, depicting an altercation in the post-Reconstruction African American and Irish northeast Washington, D.C. working-class neighborhood "Swampoodle." The figures are drawn with racist and caricatured features and mannerisms. In the center, an African American woman holds an ax up to another African American woman who stands with her hands at her hips, and with a look of surprise on her face. A third African American woman to the left of the woman with an ax attempts to reach for the weapon, while a fourth African American woman holds a switch and looks on with a stunned expression. Beside the stunned woman, a small African American boy stands in front of a fifth African American woman leaning over to pick up a rock. In the far left, an African American police officer is being led by an African American boy to the group of women. A shadowy depiction of a crowd of men, women, and children, some holding up brooms and sticks, is visible in the background. Scene also includes wash buckets, switches, and weeds on the ground near the central figure's feet. The central figures wear worn shirts and long skirts or dresses. The woman threatended wears the most worn cloths and rags on her feet. Three of the women wear kerchiefs and two wear aprons. Robinson, married to Washington U.S. Treasury clerk Rollinson Colburn, lived in the Capitol between circa 1870 and her death in 1912. In 1887 eight of her works, some purported to be based on her own eye-witness accounts during the 1870s, showing African American life in the city were published as a collectible series of photographs. Occassionally, Colburn described and signed her descriptions of the scenes on the versos of the photographs., Title printed on mount., Date from copy right statement printed on mount: Copyright 1887., Written in lower left of original print: Copyright 1887., Written in lower right of original print: Mrs. R. Colburn., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date: 1887
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photos - 5 x 7 - unidentified - Events [P.2015.22 & P.2020.16.6]

Title: David Murray, our waiter at Haverford [College] & his wife at door of Gym
Description: Glass negative showing African American waiter David Murray and his wife posing in a doorway at Haverford College (founded 1833). In the left, Murray, attired in a white collared shirt, a tie, a waistcoat, a jacket, pants, and black shoes, stands placing his left hand on the back of the chair his wife sits in to the right and slightly in front of him. Mrs. Murray, wearing her curly hair tied behind her head and attired in hoop earrings, a long-sleeved checkered blouse with a white lace collar and decorative buttons running down the middle, a dark-colored skirt with ruching at the bottom, and dark-colored shoes, sits with her hands on her lap. David looks at the viewer while Mrs. Murray faces slightly left., Photographer remarks: Undertimed., Time: 11:10, Light: Faint sun out., Digitization and cataloging has been made possible through the generosity of David Marriott Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, and William Perot Morris in memory of Marriott Canby Morris and his children: Elliston Perot Morris, Marriott Canby Morris Jr., and Janet Morris and in acknowledgment of his grandchildren: William Perot Morris, Eleanor Rhoads Morris Cox, Jonathan White Morris, and David Marriott Morris., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Edited.
Creator: Morris, Marriott Canby, 1863-1948, photographer
Date: May 29, 1885
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Marriott C. Morris Collection [P.9895.611]

Title: Cotton field
Description: Depicts African American men, women, and children picking and collecting cotton in the field. In the center, an African American man, attired in a long-sleeved shirt that is open at the chest, holds a handful of cotton that he puts in a bag strapped across his chest as he looks at the viewer. In front of him is a basket full of cotton. In the left, an African American woman, attired in a head kerchief, a plaid, long-sleeved dress, and a dark-colored apron, stands and looks at the viewer. To the left, two people are bent over at the waist picking cotton. Two children and two women stand in the field and look at the viewer. In the background is a house and trees., Yellow mount with rounded corners., Contains paper label on verso printed by Jas. L. Gow, including photographer's imprint and advertisement: A large Stock of Views of Negro Groups, Cabins, Teams, Cotton Fields, and Plants, etc. kept constantly on hand. Also, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina Views., Advertised in The Philadelphia photographer, March 1875, p. 96. [LCP Per P 81]., Purchase 2002., 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., James A. Palmer (1825-1896) was an Irish American photographer who produced thousands of stereographs about life in Aiken, South Carolina and Georgia, specializing in photographs of the African American community.
Creator: Palmer, J. A., photographer
Date: [ca. 1875]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - miscellaneous photographer - Palmer [P.2002.4.5]

Title: [African American woman nursing a baby on a porch in the presence of a man]
Description: Stereograph depicting an African American mother seated on the porch steps and nursing her baby. The woman, wearing her hair tied up in braids and attired in a polka-dotted shirt and a checked skirt, cradles an infant on her lap as it suckles on her breast. Seated in the right, the African American man, attired in a hat, a long-sleeved white shirt, a ring, and pants, looks over at the mother and child. On the porch is a wooden chair beside the closed door., Title supplied by cataloger., Orange mount with rounded corners., Manuscript note on verso: Herr Klebenice?, Gift of David Long, 2002., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unidentified - Genre [P.2002.8.5]

Title: [Diorama of a scene from the American Revolution displayed at the 27th Annual Exhibition of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society, held in the Main Building, Fairmount Park, Phila., 1880]
Description: Shows the diorama displayed at the annual exhibition of the Pennsylvania State Agricultural Society in 1880 showing British troops during the Revolutionary War marching in formation past a residence adorned with a banner inscribed, "Don't Tread on Me." The family stands outside of the house, and an African American woman domestic stands in the front doorway., Title supplied by cataloger., Text printed on mount: 27th Annual Exhibition of the Penna State. Agricultural Society, held in the Main Building, Fairmount Park, Phila., 1880., Publisher's imprint printed on mount., Yellow mount with rounded corners., Gift of Francis James Dallett, 1994., 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: E.F. Hovey, pub., 813 Arch St
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereos - Hovey - Exhibitions [P.9461.2]

Title: Back to back
Description: Racist caricature ridiculing attendees of an African American dance ball. Depicts an African American man woman couple with their backs together as they learn a dance step of which the man has "cocht de figure now!" In the left, the woman looks to the left, holds a fan and handkerchief to her left side, and stands on her toes. She is attired in a headpiece consisting of feathers, ribbons, and pearls, and an off-the-shoulder, ankle-length ball gown with puff sleeves and a pleated skirt, as well as patterned stockings, slipper shoes, and jewelry, including earrings, necklace, and a bracelet. In the right, the man holds his arms to his sides, and his hands open, as he stands on his toes. He wears a mustache and is attired in a coat with a wide collar and tails, a patterned vest and shirt with turned up collar, pantaloons, patterned stockings, and black slipper shoes adorned with buckles. The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features., Title from item., Date inferred from content and name of artist., Due to the similar content of this caraciature to the prints in the original "Life in Philadelphia" series, Murrell classifies this lithograph as a part of the series., Contains one line of dialogue in the vernacular and dialect above the image: I reckon I’ve cotch de figure now!, Imagery similar to earlier work by artist "African Fancy Ball" in Lessons in dancing, : exemplified by sketches from real life in the city of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: Published by R.H. Hobson, Chesnut Street, 1828). Copy in the holdings of the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA and Rosenbach Library and Museum, Philadelphia, PA., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Acquired in 1968.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, artist
Date: [ca. 1829]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Set) [7688.F]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. "Dat is bery fine, Mr. Mortimer..."
Description: Racist caricature of an African American couple singing and playing guitar in a parlor. In the right, "Mr Mortimer," stands with his right hand over his heart and with his other holding a sheet of music. He wears mutton chops and is attired in a brown coat with tails, a white bow tie, black pants, black stockings, black slipper shoes, and white gloves. His eyes look up and his mouth is open. He sings a love song while the woman seated in the left plays a guitar decorated with blue ribbons. Her head is turned toward the man and she sits on a bench with a blue cushion. She wears a large white bonnet adorned with red and blue bows and with ribbons tied into a bow under her chin. She is also attired in a maroon dress with long puff sleeves, black trim, and a laced bodice, black ankle-tied slipper shoes, as well as rings on her fingers. She comments that he sings "con a moor as de Italians say!!" The figures are portrayed with oversized and exaggerated features. Their skin tone is depicted with brown hand coloring. Setting also includes a carpet with a decorative pattern., Title from item., Date supplied by article about print in Daily Chronicle, December 10, 1829, p. 2., Contains eight lines of dialogue in the vernacular and dialect above the image: Dat is bery fine, Mr. Mortimer, _ you sing quite con a moor, as de Italians say!! “Take away, take away dos rosy lips, “Rich, rich in balmy treasure!_”Turn away, turn away dose eyes o blub, “Less I die wid pleasure!!!”, Inscribed: Plate 12., Inscribed: Copy right secured., S. Hart & Son was a partnership between Sarah and Abraham Hart, Jewish owners of a Philadelphia stationery store who assumed the publishing of the "Life in Philadelphia" series in 1829. She reprinted the entire series of 14 prints in 1830., Described in Daily Chronicle, December 10, 1829, p. 2., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator: Clay, Edward Williams, 1799-1857, etcher
Date: 1829
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Set) [P.9694]

Title: [African American primary school classroom]
Description: Depicts two African American women teachers overseeing a class of African American grade school children. The younger children play on the floor and at tables with blocks. The older ones sit and read on benches lining the wall. On the floor, a group of girls play with white dolls as others ride on tricycles and push a carriage. In the left, a teacher stands by two blackboards; one board lists the names of good and bad boys, and the other of good and bad girls. Stencils of animals and playing children decorate the walls., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from attire of the people., 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. 1930]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators [P.8846.29]

Title: Burholme Park outing. "Ice Cream."
Description: Depicts a smiling African American woman serving ice cream from a barrel to African American children with disabilities in Burholme Park, Philadelphia. The children, most with crutches, surround the barrel eating their ice cream. In the foreground, the young girl sits holding a dish of ice cream while her crutches lie on the grass in front of her. Three boys and one girl stand and hold dishes of ice cream. People stand and sit on benches in the background. Burholme, originally the country seat of railroad magnate Joseph Waln Ryerss and an Underground Railroad station during the Civil War, became a public park at the death bequest of Ryerss' son, Robert, in 1868., Title from duplicate print., Date inferred from attire of the people., 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. 1930]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators [P.8817.15a]

Title: Burholme Park outing. "Ice Cream."
Description: Depicts a smiling African American woman serving ice cream from a barrel to African American children with disabilities in Burholme Park, Philadelphia. The children, most with crutches, surround the barrel eating their ice cream. In the foreground, the young girl sits holding a dish of ice cream while her crutches lie on the grass in front of her. Three boys and one girl stand and hold dishes of ice cream. People stand and sit on benches in the background. Burholme, originally the country seat of railroad magnate Joseph Waln Ryerss and an Underground Railroad station during the Civil War, became a public park at the death bequest of Ryerss' son, Robert, in 1868., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date inferred from attire of the people., Photographer's blind stamp on recto., 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. 1930]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators [P.8817.15]

Title: [African American family in front of their Pennsylvania residence]
Description: Depicts the African American family of four women, two men, and a boy posed in front of their two-story house with a porch, trellis, and picket fence. In the left, an older African American man, wearing white hair, stands behind the picket fence and looks directly at the viewer. A woman, wearing her hair tied up in a bun and attired in a long-sleeved dress with decorative stripes at the bottom, stands with her left arm resting on top of the open gate and looks to the left. Three women, attired in brimmed hats and long-sleeved dresses, stand resting an arm on the picket fence. The barefooted boy, attired in a cap, a shirt, a collared jacket, and pants that end just below the knees, stands next to a dog. In the right, the man, wearing a mustache and attired in a bowler hat, a shirt, a jacket, pants, and shoes, holds the reins as he sits on top of a horse, which stands on the sidewalk in front of the house., Title supplied by cataloger., Mount has decorative gold border., See accompanying manuscript notebook United States View Company's Instructions to Salesmen. (P.9502)., Gift of Martha Graybill, 1988., 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., The United States View Company, was established by Newton Graybill and Lewis Garman of Richfield, Pennsylvania in the 1890s. It was one of several view companies which employed operators and salesmen to photograph and sell the prints of small town residents posed in front of their homes and community buildings.
Creator: United States View Company, photographer
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - United States View Company - residences [P.9253.74]

Title: Leadbeater's renowned stove polish
Description: Racist advertisement for Leadbeater & Co.’s stove polish depicting a white woman and an African American woman polishing stoves. In the left, the brown-haired white woman, attired in a blue ruffled dress, white gloves, a necklace, and bracelets, stands holding a bottle of Leadbeater’s stove polish in her left hand, which she brushes onto a heating stove. In the right, an African American woman domestic, attired in a yellow head kerchief, gold hoop earrings, a red collared shirt with the sleeves rolled to her elbows, and a green skirt with black stripes, kneels as she brushes polish on the cooking stove. She turns her head to see her reflection on the stove in the left. Also visible in the image are a framed portrait, landscape, and still life, and a green sideboard with white plates and a cup. Leadbeater & Company, was a one year partnership between Philadelphia stove polish merchants, F.C. Leadbeater and D.L. Wells, at 920 Market Street., Title and date from manuscript note written on recto: Leadbeater's Renowned Stove Polish; Feb. 1861., Not in Wainwright, Philadelphia on Stone, POSP 134, Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of engravings relating to Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date: [February 1861]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department BW - Advertisements [(7)1322.F.441a]

Title: Two souls with but a single thought
Description: Lantern slide formerly owned and probably used in art lessons by Philadelphia painter, photographer, and art teacher, Xanthus Smith of a racist depiction of African Americans in caricature by comic artist, Thomas Worth. Depicts a young and dapperly-dressed African American couple eating a piece of watermelon on a porch as the parents of one of the couple watches them from a doorway. Seated on a bench, the woman, wearing her hair tied up with a pink ribbon and attired in a blue shirt with buttons down the center, a white skirt with ruffles at the bottom, red and black checked stockings, and black shoes, sits beside the man, attired in a gray bowler hat, a white shirt with stripes, a gray waistcoat, gray and black striped pants, and black shoes. They hold a large slice of watermelon up together and bite from it while looking at one another. In the left, the mother, attired in a blue and pink plaid head kerchief, a pink and black striped shirt with a white lace collar, and a pink skirt, and the father, attired in a white collared shirt, a black waistcoat, and black pants, looks on at the couple from an open doorway. A banjo hangs from the post of the porch in the right. In the background, trees and the night sky is visible., Title from label on mount on verso., Gift of Edna Andrade, 1994., RVCDC, 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.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Lantern Slides-Smith, Xanthus [P.9471]

Title: [Folk art portraits of two African American women and two African American men]
Description: Folk art bust-length portraits of two African American men and two African American women, portrayed in racist caricature, shown in a row, alternating woman, then man. In the left, the woman, wearing her hair in two braids tied with blue bows on either side of her head that stick out, with red lips, and attired in an off-the-shoulder blue dress with ruffles, faces forward with her eyes looking left. Beside her the man, with red lips and attired in a white collared shirt, a pink tie, and a black jacket, slightly faces left and his eyes look at the woman. The woman, wearing her hair tied in multiple braids, with pink lips, and attired in a pink, ruffled dress, looks to the left. In the right, the man, with pink lips and attired in a blue bowtie, a white shirt with blue stripes, and a black jacket, faces left and looks at the woman., Title supplied by cataloger., Gift of Mrs. S. Marguerite Brenner, 1984., RVCDC, 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: [1909]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Drawings & Watercolors - Unidentified - Faces [P.9057.28]

Title: A darktown wedding, the ceremony
Description: Racist depiction of the nuptials of a young African American couple officiated by a white-haired African American man and witnessed by six African American attendants. In the left, the officiant, attired in a suit, holds a paper as he conducts the ceremony. The bride, attired in veil pinned to the back of her hair, a white dress with a large boutonniere of flowers, and white gloves, has her head tilted down and holds the hand of the groom. The groom, attired in a white collared shirt, a waistcoat, a jacket with a large flower boutonniere, pants, and shoes, stands facing left towards the officiant. Two women and three men stand behind the couple and watch the ceremony. One man alters a placard on the wall that reads, “suffer little children to come unto me” by crossing out “me” and writing “us” inverting the “s.” The dilapidated wall with exposed brick is sparsely decorated with another placard, “God bless our home” and a framed picture. A top hat rests on a stool., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1901 by C.H. Graves., Publisher's blindstamp on mount., Distributor's blindstamp on mount: The Universal Photo Art Co. Philadelphia, Napierville, Ill., London, Paris, Hamburg., Stamped on mount: 4574., Purchase 2001., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Date: 1901
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - Graves - Genre [P.9922]

Title: Life in Philadelphia. The cut direct. or getting up in the world
Description: Racist caricature portraying nouveau riche African Americans as prejudiced against lower class African Americans. Depicts an African American bootblack greeting an elegantly dressed African American couple who feign ignorance of the man's acquaintance after their return from New York. The raggedly dressed bootblack, while holding his rod of boots in one hand, uses his other hand to grab the hand of "Casar." "Casar" dressed in a hat and overcoat looks suspiciously at their joined hands. He states that the bootblack has mistaken his identity as his wife, dressed in a large bonnet with feathers and a veil and a dark overcoat, confirms the mistake and adds, "we are Guinea People, you Imperdent Nigger.", Charles Ingrey was one of the premier London lithographic printers of the 1830s., Nancy Reynolds Davison's E.W. Clay: American Political Caricaturist of Jacksonian America (PhD. diss., The University of Michigan, 1980), p. 80-81. (LCP Print Room Uz, A423.O).
Date: [ca. 1832]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Life in Philadelphia (London Set) [7893.F.2]

Main menu

Pages