Go way white trash, dis chile dance yer blind [graphic] / G. W. Leonard. 1877.
Title
Go way white trash, dis chile dance yer blind
Description
Reproduction of a sketch by G. W. Leonard depicting an African American shoeshine boy dancing to the musical accompaniment of a white boy and girl, while a white boy mocks him in the background. The smiling African American boy, portrayed in racist caricature with exaggerated features, is in the center of the image. He is attired in a white, long-sleeved open neck shirt, baggy striped pants with suspenders, and a hat with turned up brims, his hands at his side, and mid step. To his right, stand a white boy playing a concertina and a white girl playing the violin. The boy is attired in a newsboy's cap, a jacket, and pants with patches at the knees. The girl is attired in a short-sleeved, calf-length, light-colored dress, with a sash draped over her right shoulder (the one on which she plays the violin). A shoeshine box marked (with the letter s's backwards), "t. Smith. Boss Shine, 5 cts.," rests near the feet of the trio of children. In the background, a white boy, attired in torn and worn clothes and with mop-like hair, appears in a clomping stance with his arms raised to his shoulders, his back leg bent at the knee, and his other leg kicked out. His hat lays on the ground near him., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1877, by J. P. Soule., John P. Soule was a Boston photographer who also published stereographs and cartes de visite. He served in the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts at the end of the Civil War., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund and funds for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC, Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Date
[1877]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv - misc. - caricatures and cartoons - G [P.2015.63]
Ladies...
Title
Ladies
Description
Lantern slide formerly owned and probably used in art lessons by Philadelphia painter, photographer, and art teacher, Xanthus Smith. Depicts a scene set in Roman antiquity of a white woman, attired in a white gown, dancing before upper-class Romans. In the center is a marble veranda with a roof comprised of a red drape with yellow fringe held up by columns. In the veranda, around a table filled with food and drink, a Roman woman and three men lounge and watch the dancer. Behind them, three enslaved Black men and a woman carry wine flasks, pour drinks, and fan. In the left, white men and women musicians play flutes and tambourines. In the background, a peacock and other birds stand and fly on the palatial building decorated with columns, sculpture, and flowers., Title from partially legible label on mount., Number 19 in "Old Roman World" series., Gift of Edna Andrade, 1994., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date
[ca. 1875]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Lantern Slides - Smith [P.9471]
I'm a masher
Title
I'm a masher
Description
Set of five collecting cards depicting African Americans, portrayed in racist caricature with grotesque facial features, to satirize womanizing, courtship, marriage, and fatherhood. Includes (1) "I'm a Masher" showing a dapperly-dressed African American man, attired in a derby hat, a red bow tie with yellow polka dots, a yellow waistcoat, a blue jacket, and a watch fob, holding up a swagger stick, as well as cigarette that he smokes; (2) "I've Made a Mash" showing the "masher" in a close embrace with a stylishly-dressed African American woman, attired in a red dress with black polka dots, gold drop earrings, and yellow gloves; (3) "I'm Married" showing the couple on promenade with the woman, attired in a red dress with a yellow bow, a yellow and red hat, and white gloves, and the man, smoking a cigarette, and attired in a green bowler hat, a red ascot with shiny cravat pin, a blue jacket with a yellow flower boutonniere, a matching yellow with gray striped waistcoat and pants, and red gloves; (4) 'Home Sweet Home" showing the man, attired in a white collared shirt and blue-striped pants, seated with a look of anguish and surrounded by his six small children; (5) "Dady's [sic] Dead" showing the children as older and dancing around their father's grave adorned with a headstone inscribed "To the Memory of the Masher." Masher was a later 19th-century slang term for a womanizer, known for garish clothes and a vulgar manner., Copyrighted., Series no. printed in upper right corner., 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., Chicago Picture Co, a Chicago publishing firm of advertising card and novelties, was active circa 1881-circa 1883.
Creator
Chicago Picture Co.
Date
[ca. 1882]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department GC - Genre [P.2012.25.1-5]
Uncle Tom's Cabin. On the Levee
Title
Uncle Tom's Cabin. On the Levee
Description
Racist scene derived from Stowe's popular abolitionist book, probably a theater advertisement for a minstrel production. Depicts enslaved African American men and women, portrayed in racist caricature with exaggerated facial features, having a hoedown on a levee. In the foreground, two women and two men dance facing the viewer. In the left, the woman, attired in a straw hat with a white ribbon tied over the hat and under her chin, a pink smock, a green skirt, black stockings, and black shoes, puts her right foot on its heel and raises her left arm up. Beside her the man, attired in a yellow collared shirt, red suspenders, gray and yellow checked pants, and brown shoes, steps back on his right leg as he raised his right arm up. Beside him, the woman, attired in a yellow headkerchief, a green collared shirt with red polka dots, a copper colored skirt with black polka dots, black stockings, and black shoes, holds her skirt with her right hand as her left hand touches her mouth. In the right, the man, attired in a yellow collared shirt with red stripes, white overalls, and black shoes, leans to the right with both hands in his pockets. Seated in the right, two men play banjos. More African American men and women, seated and standing, clap, sing, and raise their arms up. In the background are stacks of wooden crates, and the water is visible., Title from item., Date from copyright statement: Copyright 1899. Courier Litho. Co. Buffalo, N.Y., Purchase 1988., 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
1899
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department **GC - Entertainment [P.9219]
The colored band. [graphic].
Title
The colored band
Description
Photographic reproduction of a print drawn by Helen M. Colburn, daughter of New Jersey artist Rembrandt Lockwood, depicting African American women and girl spectators reacting to a passing African American marching band. The figures are drawn with racist and caricatured features and mannerisms. Shows in the foreground, two girls and a younger and an older woman, running next to and toward the band, mimicking the band leader, and dancing. The girls and women are barefoot and wear shift dresses of either calf or ankle lengths. The older, running woman (in right) also wears a kerchief. The mimicking girl who stomps and raises her left arm in front of the band leader wears short-cropped hair and is attired in a dress with wornout sleeves (center). The young woman dancing (center) and the running girl (left) wear their hair full and wavy. In the center foreground, the band leader looks past the girl in front of him. He wears a mustache and is attired in a tall, round-top shako with plume and a uniform. The uniform has tassels at the shoulder and a decorative chest plate and pants with a vertical stripe on the outseam. He holds up a mace adorned with an eagle with his right hand. In the background, members of the marching band, attired in caps with plumes and uniforms, play tubas. A line of older African American boys and a girl walks ahead of the band. Two of the children look behind themselves toward the band, including a boy with a look of surprise. During the Civil War, African American brass bands were formed by white commanding officers to promote and increase recruitment of African American soldiers. Following the war, many of the ex-military musicians formed civilian bands associated with quasi-military drill teams, volunteer organizations, and social clubs., 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 1881. Mrs. R. Colburn, RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Purchased with the 2019 Junto Fund.
Date
1887
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photos - 5 x 7 - unidentified - Events [P.2020.16.1]
Monday morning or the tender passion. [graphic].
Title
Monday morning or the tender passion
Description
Photographic reproduction of a print drawn by Helen M. Colburn, daughter of New Jersey artist Rembrandt Lockwood, depicting an outdoor wash day. The figures are drawn with racist and caricatured features and mannerisms. Shows, in the background, in the right an African American woman bent over and with her hands in a wash tub. A basin and large ladle rest near the tub. Behind her, a sheet and stockings hang from a clothes line. In the left background, an African American woman, standing on the tops of her toes, pins a sheet to a clothesline. A wooden basket of laundry rests by her feet. A young African American girl with short hair peers at the woman hanging the wash from behind a hanging sheet. The women wear kerchiefs, shirtwaists with the sleeves rolled up, and long pleated skirts with aprons. Between the women, an African American man attired in a panama hat, a shirt, a cross tie, long jacket, and pants, stands, looking to the left and with his left hand on his hip, and holding a cane in his right hand. In the center foreground, two barefoot young African American boys face each other and dance. The boys are attired in long-sleeved blousy shirts and pants. One boy has his back to the viewer. The boy facing the viewer also wears a bucket hat. 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 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 right of original print: Mrs. R. Colburn 1877., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Purchased with the 2019 Junto Fund.
Date
1887
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photos - 5 x 7 - unidentified - Events [P.2020.16.2]