Search results

Title: Johnson, Sophia, b. 1798.
Description: Waist-length portrait of the writer, an amputee, holding a book in her left hand., In Johnson, Sophia. The friendless orphan, an affecting narrative of the trials and afflictions of Sophia Johnson, the early victim of a cruel step-mother (Pittsburgh, 1842), title vignette., Sophia Johnson dressed as a man to serve with her brother in the War of 1812., Portrait re-engraved after the original engravings by Huestis in the 1841 New York printing of The friendless orphan.
Date: [1842?]
Location: http://www.librarycompany.org/extraordinarywoman/uniform.htm

Title: A Jolly Old Maid.
Description: The old maid wears a yellow and red ball gown with lace gloves. She holds up her skirt to dance. She has numerous wrinkles., Text: Of all the olds maids that ever I knew, / There never was one half so jolly as you; / A mistake there has been, I am much afraid, / You ne'er were intended to be an old maid., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: The kraals and hutts of the Hottentots ; The Hottentot skinner
Description: Top engraving accompanies Chapter XVIII, "Of the Kraals, or Villages, of the Hottentots; their Huts and Hut-Furniture." It shows a Khoikhoin kraal, or village, in the background. As Kolb wrote, "I have seen Hundreds of Kraals, and never saw one that consisted of less than Twenty Huts. There are many so large that the Huts are not easily counted: And it is, in the Eye of a Hottentot, a very contemptible Kraal that contains not more than a Hundred Souls. The Generality of the Kraals contain each from Three Hundred to Four Hundred Souls. Some contain about Five Hundred. On the Area of a Kraal they can and do sometimes lodge several Thousands of Small Cattle." (p. 218) The foreground of the engraving features two oval-shaped Khoikhoin huts, one only partially built. According to Kolb, these huts usually ranged from ten to fourteen feet in diameter. They were built with flexible wooden sticks, which were then covered with animal skins. As Kolb explained, the top of the hut was rarely "so high that a man could stand under it erect." (p. 221) Bottom engraving shows a Khoikhoin skinner, and accompanies Chapter XIX, "Of Certain Handy-Crafts the Hottentots exercise among themselves." Referring to the engraving, Kolb wrote: "I shall now let the Reader into the Art and Mystery of a Hottentot Skinner. He takes a Sheep Skin, fresh and reeking from the Back of the Sheep, and rubs into it as much Fat as he can. At this Work he takes Abundance of Pains; and the Effect is, that the Skin is thereby render'd tough and smooth, and the Wool or Hair is secur'd from Falling off. This is All he does if he dresses a Sheep-Skin for an European: And he does the same, and no more, if he dresses the Skin of a Wild Beast for him. And, whatever the Reader may think of the Matter, a Skin dress'd in this Manner by a Hottentot is a very curious Piece of Work." (p. 232), Page from Peter Kolb's The Present State of the Cape of Good Hope (London: Printed for W. Innys and R. Manby, at the west end of St. Paul's, MDCCXXXVIII [1738]), vol. 1, p. 218., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
Date: [1738]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Kolb 532.O v 1 p 218, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2919

Title: [La Roche & Stahl florist shop, 1237 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia]
Description: Group portrait showing a line of eight men, including an African American employee and possibly co-owner Balthazar Stahl (third from right), standing in front of the flower store with large display windows marked "LaRoche & Stahl." Bouquets of flowers, floral wreathes, and other floral arrangements are displayed. A retracted awning with the name if the business adorns the building. A large garland of flowers is weaved across the awning frame. Potted plants line the base of the building and entryway near where the men stand. In the far left, the back of a horse traveling in the street near men patronizing a vendor's stand at the side of the flower store is visible. In the far right, signage for the adjacent business is partially visible. Florist Maximilian F. La Roche partnered with his brother-in-law Batlhazar Stahl in 1878. The partnership also managed several large greenhouses in Collingdale, Pa., which specialized in chrysanthemums and roses. Previously, La Roche had operated his own floral business in Philadelphia beginning circa 1876 when he purchased Brooker & Co. at 1319 Chestnut Street. La Roche removed his store to 1237 Chestnut in 1881. Stahl, who was in charge of the retail business, left the partnership circa 1898 when he started his own business at 27 South Eleventh Street., Title supplied by cataloguer., Date inferred from the attire of the men included in image.
Date: [ca. 1890]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Business - L [P.2008.11.6]

Title: Lansdowne Valley
Description: View of Lansdowne Valley with winding path beneath bridge. Located in area of high foliage. Man rests on bench in the background.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial - album [P.8965.14d]

Title: Lansdowne Valley, Bridge and Entrance
Description: View of Lansdowne Valley Bridge from below. Shows man on the pathway to the bridge entrance. Path lined by heavy shrubbery.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial - album [P.8965.14e]

Title: Learning is wealth. Wilson, Charley, Rebecca & Rosa, slaves from New Orleans
Description: Abolitionist group portrait of propagandized people emancipated enslavement in New Orleans by General Benjamin Butler. Fair-skinned children Charles Taylor, Rebecca Huger, Rosina Downs, and dark-skinned adult Wilson Chinn, his forehead branded with the initials of his former enslaver, all hold books and read together. The emancipated people were touring the North to raise funds for the Louisiana schools for formerly enslaved people established by Assistant Superintendent of Freedmen, Phillip Bacon., Title from item., Date from copyright information. Copyright by S. Tackaberry., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Distributor's imprint stamped on verso: N.B.- All orders must be addressed to H.N. Bent,[National Freedmen's Relief Association], No. 1 Mercer Street, New York., Stamped on verso: No. 6., Stamped on verso: The nett proceeds from the sale of these Photographs will be devoted to the education of the Colored People in the Department of the Gulf, now under the command of Maj. Gen'l Banks., See Harper's weekly, January 30, 1864, p. 71. (LCP **Per H, 1864)., See Kathleen Collin's "Portraits of slave children," History of photography 9 (July-September 19855), p. 187-210., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Paxson, Chas. (Charles), -1880, photographer
Date: 1864
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits-group-Emancipated Enslaved Children [P.9879]

Title: Library Company of Philadelphia scrapbook
Description: Scrapbook predominantly containing photographs of the interiors and exteriors of the buildings of the Library Company of Philadelphia at Fifth and Library streets (1792-1878) and Juniper and Locust streets (1880-1940). Interior views show the main reading room, the women's reading room, and the Henry C. Lea Annex (member's reading room) at the Juniper Street building. The images include shelves of books; reading tables and chairs; magazine racks; card catalogs; and paintings, photographs, manuscripts and busts and object d'arts on display. Also contains photographs and photomechanical reproductions of portraiture of early noted figures and donors to the Library Company and art and artifacts held by or associated with the repository. Additional content includes reference correspondence (1920 and 1924) between librarian George Abbot and overseas researchers studying Peter Collinson and an April 8, 1834 newspaper clipping reporting the Library Company's receipt of the book collection of the late James Cox "Artist and Bibliomaniac" accompanied by his autograph (John McAllister label pasted on verso)., Portraits depict Rev. Samuel Preston (1756-1834); optician Joseph Fisher (d. 1864); library director Dr. Thomas Parke (1749-1835); "library director 1825-1840" Benjamin R. Morgan (1765-1840); and Library Company purchasing agent Peter Collinson (1694-1768). Artifacts include the "Lion's Mouth" tin suggestion box (ca. 1850); the candle lantern from the entrance of the original library building (pre-1791); "old playing cards used as washers for Franklin's electrical machine" (1740s); William Penn's secretary desk (ca. 1680); John Penn's air pump case for electrical instruments (1738-1739); and the anti-slavery painting "Liberty Displaying the Arts and Sciences" given to the library by its artist Samuel Jennings in 1792., Title supplied by cataloger., Bookplate of the Library Company dated October 9, 1934 pasted on inside front cover., Some contents identified from manuscript notes on rectos and versos of scrapbook pages., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Housed in phase box., Select link above to access the website "Art & Artifacts. Discover the Library Company’s Art and Artifact Collection.", The Library Company of Philadelphia, America’s first successful lending library and oldest cultural institution, was founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin as a subscription library supported by its shareholders. Until the 1850s it was the largest public library in America. It was transformed into a research library in the 1950s.
Creator: Library Company of Philadelphia
Date: 1818-ca. 1934, bulk 1920-1930
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums - Library [Uy8 7065.Q], http://www.librarycompany.org/artifacts/

Title: Library Company of Philadelphia scrapbook
Description: Scrapbook containing newspaper clippings, photographs, ephemera and prints predominantly issued between the 1930s and 1970s documenting exhibitions, loans, collections, events and the history of the Library Company. Clippings include newspaper articles about a loan of American political cartoons to the Toledo Museum (1936); exhibitions commemorating the centenary of librettist W.S. Gilbert (1936); the tercentenary of Swedish Settlement (1938); and the library's African American history collection (1971). Columns also describe the presentation of the Christopher Sower library (1909); the return in 1876 of a book 99 years overdue since the American Revolution (1938); the demolition of the Library's Juniper and Locust streets building for a parking lot (1939); and the vandalism of the former Ridgway Building at 901-933 Broad Street (1969). Photographs predominantly depict the exteriors and reading rooms of the library buildings at Fifth and Library Streets, Juniper and Locust Streets, and Broad Street (Ridgway Building). Other photographs include a series of views from the 1939 unveiling ceremony of the James Logan memorial (to be erected in Fairmount Park) on the steps of the Ridgway Branch. Ephemera includes invitations (several from The Women's Committee), brochures, catalogs, announcements and placards related to library events; bulletins and pamphlets describing collections; dues notices and book plates; the variant 1884 and 1906 "Rules of the Library Company"; an off-print of the 1882 Louise Stockton entry in "A Sylvan City..." about "The Old Philadelphia Library"; and a 1961 citation from the city recognizing the library as a "Philadelphia first.", Title supplied by cataloger., Cut outs of the seal and motto of Library Company from bookplate pasted on title page., Some contents annotated with dates and typewritten descriptions., Several loose photographs removed and rehoused as "Library Company of Philadelphia Scrapbook Photographs Collection" [P.2010.17]. Contains a ca. 1865 portrait of library donor John A. McAllister misidentified as librarian Lloyd P. Smith, a ca. 1935 portrait of librarian George Abbot, and interior and exterior views of the library buildings, including artifacts, at Fifth and Library Streets, Juniper and Locust Streets, and Broad Street (Ridgway Building)., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Typewritten index inserted in volume., The Library Company of Philadelphia, America’s first successful lending library and oldest cultural institution, was founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin as a subscription library supported by its shareholders. Until the 1850s it was the largest public library in America. It was transformed into a research library in the 1950s.
Creator: Library Company of Philadelphia
Date: [ca. 1865-ca. 1971, bulk ca. 1936-ca. 1945]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *albums (flat) [P.2010.17], Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Library Company of Philadelphia Scrapbook Photographs Collection [P.2010.17]

Title: The locomotive of "1875".
Description: A group of men stand in front of a locomotive with the Maryland State Building in background.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.9c]

Title: Log cabin in "Ye Olden Time."
Description: Exterior view of cabin with picket-fenced yard. Women sit and stand in front of building working and spinning.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.7b]

Title: Log Cabin Studies, 'Spinning'.
Description: Interior view showing two women spinning wool. Also shows a large spinning wheel, two chairs, a desk with a plant and teacup. A clock, framed pictures, two silhouettes are mounted on the wall.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial - album [P.8965.28e]

Title: The London Coffee House
Description: Exterior view showing the coffee house and merchants' exchange during the colonial era at the southwest corner of Front and Market streets in Philadelphia. An auction of enslaved people occurs outside the coffee house and pedestrians traverse the sidewalks. Partial view of the adjacent printing house of "Pennsylvania Journal" publisher, William Bradford, is visible. Erected in 1702 and established as a coffee house in 1754 by Bradford, the site was a public center for social and economic activities during the later 18th century, including auctions of enslaved people. The building was razed in 1883., Title from item., Published in John F. Watson's Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the olden time:....Embellished with engravings, by T.H. Mumford (Philadelphia, 1844), vol.1 and later editions., After wash study by Edward Mumford., Originally part of McAllister scrapbook of engravings relating to Philadelphia. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Mumford, Thomas Howland, 1816-, engraver
Date: [ca. 1844]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Ph Pr - 8x10 - Hotels, Inns, Taverns [(6)1322.F.47a]

Title: London Coffee House
Description: Wash study for engraving by Mumford's brother, Thomas Mumford, appearing in several editions of John F. Watson's "Annals of Philadelphia,...with engravings by T.H. Mumford" published by various publishers between 1844 to 1870. Depicts an exterior view of the coffee house and merchants' exchange at the southwest corner of Front and Market streets in colonial Philadelphia. An auction of enslaved people occurs outside the coffee house and pedestrians traverse the sidewalks. Partial view of the adjacent printing house of "Pennsylvania Journal" publisher, William Bradford, is visible. Erected in 1702 and established as a coffee house in 1754 by Bradford, the site was a public center for social and economic activities during the late 18th century, including auctions of enslaved people. The building was razed in 1883., Title from manuscript note on recto., Manuscript note on recto: Original., Accessioned 1982., 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.
Creator: Mumford, Edward William, 1812-1858, artist
Date: [ca. 1844]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Drawings & Watercolors-Mumford [P.8757.18]

Title: Long Shanks.
Description: "Long shanks" is slang for "long legs," and the valentine mocks the recipient for his tall stature. "Barnum" refers to P.T. Barnum, the circus founder., Text: Your little bullet head, and legs so very long / Remind me very strongly of a pair of tongs; / Your shape's so very odd, you really make me laugh; / I think if Barnum had you, he would call you the Giraffe., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: The love drop
Description: Racist, card depicting a genre scene of an African American woman fortune teller with three white women clients. Shows the elderly African American woman, attired in a red head kerchief, spectacles, a yellow shawl, a long-sleeved white dress, and a white apron, sitting on a green, wooden chair and tea reading. She pours tea out of a cup, and it drips into a small bottle. A saucer is on the floor below. The illustration’s title, “The Love Drop” refers to a tea leaf reader’s term for the last drop that falls from the cup, which would supposedly provide a glimpse into affairs of love. In the right, three young white women look on at the fortune teller. The blond-haired white woman, attired in a hat decorated with flowers and a long-sleeved pink dress with black decorative ribbons, sits on the floor on a rug with her parasol next to her. To her right, seated on a wooden chair, the brown-haired woman, attired in a hat decorated with a black ribbon and red flowers and a yellow dress with black lace accents, leans forward holding her parasol in both hands underneath her chin. Sitting on the chair’s right armrest, the blond-haired woman, attired in a green dress decorated with black ribbons, looks on. Behind the women is an open hearth with a black pot hanging above the fire. A clothesline of laundry hangs in front of the hearth. In the left is a table with a red tablecloth and a shelf above it that has a copper coffeepot and plate. There are cups and saucers on the floor and a round container possibly of red knitting. A chair is visible in the far right., Title from item., Text printed on recto: The Love Drop. From Painting by Harry Roseland., Publication information and date from the copyright statement: Copyright 1903 by Harry Roseland., Gift of David Doret.
Date: 1903
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Greeting Cards, etc. - Love [P.2017.95.249]

Title: Machinery Hall.
Description: View of Machinery hall with flags on top and landscaped trees and shrubs in front. Foreground depicts locomotive and full passenger car with West End Passenger Railway Company next to a platform.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.1f]

Title: Machinery Hall - Pump Annex
Description: Interior view of Machinery Hall depicting the Pump Annex. Shows a large pool of water adjacent to a wall lined with extended pumps and pipes.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial - album [P.8965.21c]

Title: Machinery Hall - South Avenue - April 13
Description: Interior view of Machinery Hall along South Avenue. Depicts men working on construction of machine parts and vehicles.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial - album [P.8965.19a]

Title: Machinery Hall - west end.
Description: Exterior view of west end of Machinery Hall with flag-topped bell tower. Depicts people sitting on benches in front of building.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.6c]

Title: Main Building, from east end.
Description: Exterior of the building. In front are people, railroad tracks, streetlamps, a carriage, and shrubbery. Above are clouds.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: *Centennial - photos [P.8700.6]

Title: Main Building - main avenue, from west end.
Description: Exhibit titles: Cheney Brothers, Hartford and South Manchester, Conn., Exhibit #813; Horstmann, W.H., & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa.,Exhibit #831; Ames Manufacturing Co., Chicopee, Mass., Exhibit #1240; Corbin, P. & F., New Britain, Conn., Exhibit #1459; Rowland, B., & Co., Philadelphia, Pa. Exhibit #1370; Mallory, Wheeler, Co., New Haven, Conn., Exhibit #1474; New York Knife Co., Walden, N.Y., Exhibit #1433; Tufts, Jas W., Boston, Mass., Exhibit #300a; Lippincott, J.B., & Co., Exhibit #n/a, Main Exhibition Building, Bldg. #1. Overview of the interior of the Main Building, showing all the displays. People sit on benches in the center.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: *Centennial - photos [P.8700.13]

Title: Main Building, north entrance.
Description: View of the Main Building with two statues, railway cars, horse cart and two men in the foreground.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: *Centennial - photos [P.8700.9]

Title: Main Building - Western entrance.
Description: Entrance to Main Building with Bartholdi's fountain. Lamp-lined, landscaped walkways, pedestrians are in the foreground.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.1e]

Title: Mammoth Grape Vine in Santa Barbara
Description: Exterior view showing a mammoth grape vine with a man seated beneath. Also shows surrounding grape vines and shrubs with a partial view of a shed.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.27d]

Title: Mammoth Grape Vine in Santa Barbara
Description: Exterior view showing a vineyard with a mammoth grape vine at the center, and a woman seated beneath. Also shows surrounding grape vines, shrubs, and a partial view of a porch with an empty chair.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.27f]

Title: [Man lying on a mechanical invalid bed]
Description: Documentary portrait, possibly a mendicant photograph, showing a man lying on an invalid bed. The bed is composed of a bed frame, the mattress on which the man lies, overhead vertical rails, side "rails" made of stretched cloth, and a hand crank. The man, possibly a Civil War veteran, has a dark bushy mustache and rests his head on a pillow in the left of the image. He looks toward the viewer. He rests his hand on one of the side slats. A jacquard blanket covers him. To the side of the bed, is a lower "ledge" covered in jacquard fabric. A basket of fruit and two books adorn it. In the left forefront is a side table on which a book rests. In the right background, a window with curtains is visible. The stereograph was possibly sold as a means to raise funds for the man portrayed in the photograph., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from mount and content., Warped yellow mount with rounded corners., Purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program (Junto 2015).
Date: [ca. 1870]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department stereo - unidentified photo - Genre [P.2016.26.1]

Title: [Man on the riverbank], Browns Mills, [NJ] with Photo[graphic] Society
Description: Film negative from a series of photographs taken by Morris during his excursion to Brown Mills, N.J. with the Photographic Society of Philadelphia. Shows a man standing on an unidentified riverbank leaning over to reach something near his feet. Trees grow on either side of the river, their branches extending over the water. The Photographic Society of Philadelphia was founded in 1860 to promote the techniques and art of photography. Morris was a member of the Society by 1885., 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: May 21, 1927
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Marriott C. Morris Collection [P.2013.13.454]

Title: [Man on the riverbank. Browns Mills, NJ with Photographic Society]
Description: Photograph from a series of photographs taken by Morris during his excursion to Brown Mills, N.J. with the Photographic Society of Philadelphia. Shows a man standing on an unidentified riverbank leaning over to reach something near his feet. Trees grow on either side of the river, their branches extending over the water. The Photographic Society of Philadelphia was founded in 1860 to promote the techniques and art of photography. Morris was a member of the Society by 1885., Photograph from negative number P.2013.13.454., 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: May 21, 1927
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Marriott C. Morris Collection [P.2013.13.648]

Title: Maryland State Building.
Description: Exterior view of building with a wooden walkway and fire hydrant in foreground. Several men sit on porch and stand in entrance to the building.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.9b]

Title: Massachusetts State Building.
Description: Exterior view of building with people on stairs to entrance.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.8b]

Title: Midway Plaisance-Dahomans
Description: Lantern slide showing a group of barefooted Black men Dahomans carrying a man in a fabric litter during the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The four men rest the wooden beams on top of their heads on head pads and hold their hands above their heads to support the beams. In the front left, the barechested man is attired in a necklace and a floral patterned sarong. In the front right, the man is attired in a sleeveless shirt with an American flag print, a belt with a pouch, and knee-length white shorts. In the right rear, the man is attired in a sleeveless white shirt, knee-length shorts, and an arm bracelet. In the background, white men and women spectators look on. The Kingdom of Dahomey was a West African kingdom located within present-day Benin that existed from approximately 1600 until 1904. Dahomey developed on the Abomey Plateau amongst the Fon people, a Gbe ethnic group., Contains MCM stamp. Title printed on label., Purchase 2001., 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: 1893
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Marriott C. Morris Collection [P.9895.2169]

Title: [Millie and Christine McCoy]
Description: Full-length portrait of the African American women conjoined twins and performers known as the "two-headed nightingale" and "Carolina twins." The twins wear their hair parted in the middle and in curls and with floral hair adornments at their crowns. They are attired in short-sleeved dresses with lace trim and black boots with heels. They also wear bracelets. They stand posed in front of a balustrade and beside a guitar and arranged branches. They were born in Whiteville, North Carolina on July 11, 1851, to Jacob and Monemia McKoy who were enslaved to Jabez McKay. Various enslavers and managers exhibited the twins nationally and internationally. They performed at the Assembly Building in Philadelphia in May 1866 accompanied by the 15 year old master pianist, J.W. Minnick., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., History and medical description of the two-headed girl:...(Buffalo, N.Y.: Warren, Johnson, & Co., 1869). (LCP Am 1869 Hist, 70318.D)., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., RVCDC, Germon was a Philadelphia engraver and early photographer who produced photographic portraits at his studio, the "Temple of Art."
Creator: Germon, W. L. (Washington Lafayette), 1822-1877
Date: [ca. 1866]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Millie [P.9790]

Title: [Millie and Christine McCoy]
Description: Full-length portrait of the African American women conjoined twins and performers known as the "two-headed nightingale" and "Carolina twins." The twins wear their hair parted in the middle and in curls and with floral hair adornments at their crowns. They are attired in short-sleeved dresses with lace trim and black boots with heels. They also wear bracelets. They stand posed in front of a balustrade and beside a guitar and arranged branches. They were born in Whiteville, North Carolina on July 11, 1851, to Jacob and Monemia McKoy who were enslaved to Jabez McKay. Various enslavers and managers exhibited the twins nationally and internationally. They performed at the Assembly Building in Philadelphia in May 1866 accompanied by the 15 year old master pianist, J.W. Minnick., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., History and medical description of the two-headed girl:...(Buffalo, N.Y.: Warren, Johnson, & Co., 1869). (LCP Am 1869 Hist, 70318.D)., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., RVCDC, Germon was a Philadelphia engraver and early photographer who produced photographic portraits at his studio, the "Temple of Art."
Creator: Germon, W. L. (Washington Lafayette), 1822-1877
Date: [ca. 1866]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Millie [P.9790]

Title: 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: Mirth! music! originality! The success of the season! "Jollities"
Description: Racist trade card promoting “The Electrical Doll” play at the Gaiety Theatre in Boston. Depicts a caricature of an older African American man, possibly a peddler, carrying a dead duck and a basket of produce. The man is balding and has tufts of white hair on the sides of his head and is attired in plaid pants, a collared shirt, a collared jacket, and a plaid scarf tied around his neck. He holds a dead duck by the legs in his left hand. Around his left shoulder, he carries a straw handled basket, which has the leaves of a vegetable sticking out of it. Behind him in the background is a shelf that has a bottle and a glass on it. The Gaiety Theatre in Boston was located on Washington Street between West and Avery Streets. The 800-seat theater operated from 1878 to 1882 when it became the Bijou Theatre. Charles Atkinson with his Jollities theatre troupe produced comedic plays, including “The Electrical Doll,” which was written by Clinton G. Parrefield with music by J. Adalim. It first appeared in December, 1879 and ran for a number of years in America and Europe., Title from item., Publication information and date inferred from the content., Text printed on the recto: (Over.), Advertising text printed on the verso: Boston Press Notes. [Boston Herald, Dec. 14.]“Standing room only.” and precious little of that, was what late comers at the Gaiety Theatre found last evening. One of the largest audiences ever gathered in this cosy little house extended to the ‘Jollities’ Combination such a welcome as to dispel all doubts, if, indeed, any existed, that the levees to be given during the present week by “The Electrical Doll” will be little short of a perfect ovation.” [Boston Post, Dec. 14.] “The ‘Jollities’ presented the ‘Electrical Doll,” the funniest of all musical absurdities, before an over-flowing house last evening at the Gaiety, and gave universal satisfaction.” [Boston Globe, Dec. 14.] The Jollities. “There was not a vacant seat at the cosy Gaiety last evening. Why? Simply from the fact that Manager Gouge, who knows just what a Boston audience requires, gave one of the best performances that has graced this theatre this season. If good acting, splendid singing, bright and witty dialogue, with a capital orchestra—whose sparkling music was rendered under the baton of J.A. Norris in such an acceptable manner that encores were demanded—deserve to be called first-class, then a faint idea may be conceived of the excellencies of the Jollities Combination entertainment.”, [Boston Journal, Dec. 14.] Gaiety Theatre—“The Jollities Combination is well named, for jollier lot of performers could scarcely be brought together. At the Gaiety Theatre, last night, they appeared before a large audience in a two-act musical piece entitled ‘The Electrical Doll.” On the bills the piece is called an ‘absurdity,’ and it is deliciously absurd, yet marked by a consistency that places it as a composition for the stage very far ahead of the majority of similar productions. The Jollities deserve full houses during their stay of a week, and all who attend their clever entertainments are certain to be pleased.”, Printed with green ink., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Gaiety [P.2017.95.67]

Title: Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church [certificate]
Description: Life membership certificate containing a vignette contrasting scenes of apocalyptic doom and religious salvation. Shows to the right an angel trumpeting salvation and wielding the Bible above a missionary preaching to a large group of Native Americans and a converted Black family kneeling and reaching toward the heavens; broken shackles and swords beside them. Opposite the scenes of salvation, a cross rises from the ground, bringing forth a river of redemption too late for the lost souls of a bejeweled "heathen" woman and a skull-headed man entangled by serpents. Behind them a temple, probably the Vatican, collapses to the ground. The Missionary Society, officially organized in New York in 1820, worked first to convert Native Americans and enslaved people before extending their missions to the Black inhabitants of Liberia in 1823., Issued to Eliza J. Hamilton on April 7th, 1846. Signed by John Whitman, President and Saml. Sappington, Secretary., Gift of David Doret, 2009., See variant *Philadelphia Certificates - Organizations - M [P.P.2004.46.1]., 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., Access points revised 2021., Description revised 2021.
Creator: Sartain, John, 1808-1897, engraver
Date: [ca. 1835]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *Philadelphia Certificates - Organizations - M [P.2009.26.1]

Title: Missouri State Building.
Description: Exterior view looking up at the building with a fence behind and a pile of lumber in the foreground. People stand along balcony and sit on porch in front of building. A stuffed moose stands atop the front porch roof.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.11a]

Title: Monitor Turret
Description: View of Monitor Turret in front of the U.S. Government Building. The foreground depicts people leisurly sitting on the steps and standing in the patchway. The background also shows a cannon in front of the U.S. Government Building.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial - album [P.8965.16f]

Title: Mother and great-grand-aunt of the two daughters
Description: Group portrait of woman holding her two daughters with her aunt sitting next to her on a couch., Title from photographer's manuscript note on verso., Photographer's manuscript note on verso: Age of the g-g-a 103 yrs. Does not wear glasses, can walk, attend to household duties and possesses a remarkable memory. Is hard of hearing but can keep up a rapid fire conversation. Has a fine sense of humor. Eats what she wants, when she wants it, does not worry and has never had indigestion. Age authentic. (Relate story of the fractured hip and dislocated shoulder blade). Had her hair bobbed., Gift of Margaret Odewalt Sweeney., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: ca. 1923
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson 113 [P.8513.113], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson113.htm

Title: Mount Vaughan Scite of Protest[an]t. Episcopal Mission, Cape Palmos, West Africa
Description: View of the lush grounds of the mission begun in the Black emigrant colony of Liberia in 1835 to educate and spread the gospel in Africa. Depicts the "mission houses," "school house," houses of a "native laborer" and "a colonist," and "native cattle broken to the yoke." A Black man guides a cattle-drawn cart on the dirt road outside of the fenced mission fields where Black laborers work. Begun under the auspices of the American Colonization Society and the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church, the mission moved on March 4, 1837 to Mt. Vaughan, named in honor of the Missionary Society's Secretary of the Board, Rev. John Vaughan. Contains key to figures below the image., Title from item., Lib. Company. Annual report, 1969, p. 56., Purchase 1969., 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., Breton was a 19th-century Philadelphia painter, delineator, and early lithographer who specialized in views.
Creator: Breton, William L., approximately 1773-1855, artist
Date: 1838
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *GC - Views - Foreign - Africa [7821.F]

Title: A mulatto woman of the Gold Coast
Description: Portrait of a mulatto woman walking with a parasol on the coast. Hutton's general description of "superior black women and mulattoes" on the Gold Coast also applies to this subject. As he wrote, "They wear a cloth either of silk or cotton, which they fasten round their waist with a handkerchief, from which is suspended a large bunch of silver keys, about thirty-two in number. Under their cloth they wear a girdle that goest several times round their loins, and forms into a large pad behind, just at the small of their backs, which is called a cankey, and on which they carry their children. This cankey, which has a very unseemly appearance, possesses the advantage of keeping the cloth loose, and thus prevents their shape from being exposed. The young girls in general are proud of showing their bosoms, but the mulatto women conceal theirs by wearing a linen shirt." (p. 93-94), Plate in William Hutton's A Voyage to Africa: Including a Narrative of an Embassy to One of the Interior Kingdoms, in the year 1820 . . . (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster-Row, 1821), p. 92., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
Creator: Clark, J., 1789-1830, engraver
Date: 1821
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Hutton 5536.O p 92, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2915

Title: [Music class at Philadelphia Orthopedic School, 22nd & Brown Streets]
Description: Depicts the young students, including African American children, from the Willis and Elizabeth Martin Orthopedic School playing simple percussion instruments during a music lesson of the "Shoemakers Dance." In the left at the front of the classroom, a boy student acts as conductor, overseen by the teacher and woman piano accompanist. The students sit on the floor with their instruments. Along the wall are several students in wheelchairs. Opened in 1936, the Public Works Administration funded school, named after the Philadelphia judge and health care reformer and his philanthropist wife, provided the students with medical care and a curriculum of humanities, arts, crafts, and drama., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inscribed on negative: No. 12219; 4-5-37., Manuscript note on verso: Phila. Orthopedic School, 22nd & Brown Sts., Duplicate of P.8578.16., Gift of Mrs. Arthur Kushlan, 1980., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Forms part of Philadelphia Public Schools Photograph Collection., 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: [April 5, 1937]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Education [P.8578.15]

Title: [Music class at Philadelphia Orthopedic School, 22nd & Brown Streets]
Description: Depicts the young students, including African American children, from the Willis and Elizabeth Martin Orthopedic School playing simple percussion instruments during a music lesson of the "Shoemakers Dance." In the left at the front of the classroom, a boy student acts as conductor, overseen by the teacher and woman piano accompanist. The students sit on the floor with their instruments. Along the wall are several students in wheelchairs. Opened in 1936, the Public Works Administration funded school, named after the Philadelphia judge and health care reformer and his philanthropist wife, provided the students with medical care and a curriculum of humanities, arts, crafts, and drama., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inscribed on negative: No. 12219; 4-5-37., Manuscript note on verso: Phila. Orthopedic School, 22nd & Brown Sts., Duplicate of P.8578.15., Gift of Mrs. Arthur Kushlan, 1980., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Forms part of Philadelphia Public Schools Photograph Collection., 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: [April 5, 1937]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - Education [P.8578.16]

Title: M’Dougald, Elizabeth, b. 1796.
Description: Full-length portrait of Mrs. Elizabeth M’Dougald in a natural setting. She is depicted “in the guise of a Scottish Highlander,” wearing a highland dress and a Scottish bonnet with feathers, and holding two shotguns. --P. 18., In M’Dougald, Elizabeth. The Life, travels, and extraordinary adventures of Elizabeth M’Dougald (Providence, 1834), [1]., "Thus attired I commenced my pursuit after the destroyer of my happiness, -- once the idol that I worshiped”., Elizabeth M’Dougald was a Scottish woman who was abandoned by her husband for another woman. With murderous intentions she pursued him by crossing the Atlantic, traveling throughout Canada and the United States, and enlisting in the Army.
Date: [1834?]
Location: http://www.librarycompany.org/extraordinarywoman/uniform.htm

Title: Negre Manding
Description: Included in Chapter IX, "Mandings, Barra, Kollar, et Badibou," the engraving shows a Mandingo regent in the costume of his people. The Mandingos are a West African ethnic group; they live in the countries of Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Senegal., Illustration in René Geoffroy de Villeneuve's L'Afrique, ou Histoire, moeurs, usages et coutumes des africains: Le Sénégal (Paris: Nepveu, libraire, passage des Panoramas, no. 26, 1814), vol. 3 p. 170., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
Date: [1814]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri R.G.V. 65954.D v 3 p 170, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2930

Title: Never Had a Beau.
Description: A woman sits with her eyes closed and head down. The shape of her clothing resembles a religious cassock, perhaps suggesting celibacy., Text: That you can't get a lover, well I know / To you must be a bitter pill; / That at your feet you never had a Beau, / And what is more, I fear you never will., Provenance: McAllister, John A. (John Allister), 1822-1896, collector.
Date: [between 1840 and 1880?]

Title: New York State Building.
Description: Exterior view of building with people standing along walkways and railroad tracks in foreground.
Creator: Centennial Photographic Co., photographer., creator
Date: 1876
Location: Centennial album [P.8965.8a]

Title: The nigger emperor of Nicuragua [sic] on his throne Attended by Chatfield & his Black guards witnessing the detention of the steamer Prometheus, by the English brig of war Express, at San Juan
Description: Racist political cartoon satirizing the fictitious "Nigger Emperor" of Nicaragua during the "Prometheus-Express" incident of November 1851, which threatened the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 between the United States and Britain to abstain from attempting dominion of Central America. Depicts the Emperor as a Black man, partially undressed, attired in a military uniform with epaulettes, a black plumed hat, a sword on his waistband, and black boots. He sits atop a barrel labeled “Jamaica Rum.” He has one boot off that exposes his sock. His trousers are off and draped over his right arm. He smiles with a cigar in his mouth and carries a bottle labeled “Brandy” in his left hand. He looks towards Frederick Chatfield, the United Kingdom’s consul in Central America from 1834 to 1852, standing in the right. Chatfield holds his hands up and says, “They shall pay the money or be blow to attoms for their temerity, let me again entreat your Majesty to condesend (sic) to draw your breeches over your imperial shins.” The Emperor gestures with his right hand to the two ships in the harbor and replies in the vernacular, “Nebber mine, Massa Chatfield, wedder to warm for wear beechum, Yankee hab to cum back and pay money to dis nigger, ya, ya, ya.” Behind the Emperor, several Black guards, attired in tall hats, smile and stand in formation. Also in the print is a small black dog sniffing the Emperor’s sock., The Clayton-Bulwer Treaty of 1850 made Greytown, Nicaragua a free port, denying the British revenue. To circumvent this, the British charged harbor fees. On November 21, 1851, Cornelius Vanderbilt’s ship Prometheus refused to pay the British harbor fees. The British brig o’war Express fired three shots across the bow of the Prometheus. Vanderbilt then paid. However, when the ship arrived in New York he took his case to the U.S. government with the U.S. wanting Britain to withdraw from Central America. In early 1852, the Nicaraguan government sought to assert its authority over the Miskito kingdom. On April 30, 1852, Secretary of State Daniel Webster and British minister John Crampton negotiated a settlement that made Greytown a free city, protected the rights of the Miskito Indians, and established the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua along the San Juan River., Title from item., Erroneously dated 1839 by Weitenkampf., Appears in The old soldier, New York, February, 1852., Likely drawn by John L. Magee, who worked at 69 Nassau Street at this time., Originally part of American political caricatures, likely a scrapbook, accessioned 1899. Collection primarily comprised of gifts from Samuel Breck, John A. McAllister, and James Rush., 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.
Creator: Magee, John L., artist
Date: [1852]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Political Cartoons - 1851-28 [5760.F.107]

Title: No. 2 The introduction
Description: Second scene based on a racist series of African American caricatures originally created for Harper's Weekly in 1878 by Sol Eytinge that satirized the courtship and marriage of and the start of families by "The Twins." The African American figures are depicted with exaggerated features and mannerisms. Scene shows the “twins,” side-by-side, curtseying to their two male suitors (one tall and one squat) who stand across the parlor. The tall one bows with his hat in hand. The suitors’ mother, portrayed with a face with many wrinkles and attired in a polka dot dress, stands between the pairs. The room is adorned with a table that holds a vase of flowers, an album, and a glass. Framed pictures, including a portrait, as well as a cuckoo clock adorn the walls near a window with a partially rolled-up window shade. The twins are attired in polka dot dresses and the men in suits., Title from item., Inscribed on original drawing: Remodeled from sketch in Harpers Weekly., Date from copyright statement in other photographs in series: Copyrighted 1881 John McGreer, Chicago, Ill., Name of artist stamped on verso: McGreer Chicago., Name of publisher from other photographs in series., Purchased with the Davida T. Deutsch African American History Fund., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 2017, p. 52., RVCDC, Desciption revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Creator: McGreer, John, 1839-1908
Date: 1881
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - 5 x 7 - Unid. - Events [P.2017.26.2]

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