Search results

Title: Tuning up
Description: Engraving is one of several accompanying the story "A Winter in the South." It is set in Tennesse, and shows three black musicians, who, at the request of their master, played for him and his family on Christmas Day. According to the story's unnamed author, the master's rhetorical question " . . . because we have the misfortune to be white, shall we never forget our cares and troubles?" was followed by the decisive order, "Bring in the fiddlers!" As the author then wrote, "In came the joyful musicians, grinning from ear to ear, and bowing until they sweep the floor with their greasy hats, anticipating the extra drams and half-dollars for their holiday spendings." (p. 295) In the illustration, the musicians are show with their instruments (fiddles and a tamborine). The portrayal of their facial features adheres to negative racial stereotypes., Illustration in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 17, no. 99 (August 1858), p. 295., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Daily Life.
Date: [August 1858]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Per H 9 62992.O v 17 n 99 August 1858 p 295, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2875

Title: The "West Point," the second locomotive built in the United States for actual service
Description: Ilustration shows the "West Point" during its first excursion trip or "trial of speed." The train was conducted by Stephen Lee Alison, who is shown with a African American assistant. Behind them, an African American man rides on the "barrier car," which consists of six bales of cotton strapped down by hoop-irons. (Such cars helped protect passengers from steam and hot water.) The next car is occupied by a "well-known colored band of Charleston" (p. 28), while the final car carries white passengers., Fold-out illustration in William H. Brown's The History of the First Locomotives in America: Together with other Valuable and Interesting Information from Original Documents, and the Testimony of Living Witnesses (Philadelphia: Barclay & Co., Publishers, No. 21 North Seventh Street, c1877), p. 28., Caption below the illustration reads: "The 'West Point' was built at the West Point Foundry Works, in New York City, for the South Carolina Railroad, forwarded to Charleston by ship Lafayette, and after several experimental trials, in February, 1831, made the first excursion trip, as above, on Saturday afternoon, March 5, 1831. (See extract from Charleston Courier.), Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Work Scenes.
Date: [c1877]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1877 Bro S20245.O p 28, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2830

Title: [Celebration at building construction site]
Description: Group portrait of white men celebrants, attired in light-colored hats and suits, at a building construction site on a major city street. An older white man, attired in an oversized hat decorated with flowers, holds a baton and sits before the group of men who stand on planks balanced across exposed iron girders in the sidewalk, on a large pulley, and on cement blocks before the unfinished building. In the left, four African American men musicians with guitars and a fiddle stand on the planks of wood and look at the viewer., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from attire of the sitters., Purchase 1989., 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. 1910]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - construction [P.9260.426]

Title: [African American youth playing banjo]
Description: Interior view depicting a seated African American boy singing and playing the banjo in a nicely furnished parlor. The boy, attired in a white collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a dark-colored waistcoat, pants, and shoes, holds the banjo on his lap and looks up and to the right with his mouth open. In the left, a broom is propped against a wooden chair. Behind him is a closed door and a framed object hung on the wallpapered wall., Title supplied by cataloger., Frances Orlando's "George Bacon Wood, photographer of the 1880s: an introduction to the Wood Collection in the Library Company of Philadelphia. (Master's thesis, Philadelphia College of Art, 1985), p. 42., 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 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.8743.188]

Title: Hiram W. Stout, groceries, &c., 5th and Erie Ave
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting an African American man musician playing the cello. The man is seated in a crouched position on a green chair. He is attired in a yellow cap, a red and white striped shirt, a dotted blue jacket, yellow and red striped pants, and blue, yellow, and black boots. The man holds the neck of the cello in his left hand and the bow in his right. He is depicted with exaggerated features., Title from item., Title and business name printed on verso., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Stout [P.2017.95.172]

Title: Fine clothing, for men, youths and boys at the Misfitstore, cor. 10th & F Sts
Description: Racist trade card illustration depicting an African American man minstrel musician to promote a clothing store. Shows the man facing the viewer and playing a recorder. The man is attired in a red cap, a white shirt with the collar turned up, a green bowtie, a brown jacket, blue and white striped pants, and brown shoes., Title from item., Date inferred from content and genre of print., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1880]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Misfitstore [P.2017.95.132]

Title: Concert Hall immense success Every evening, at eight o'clock, and matinees Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, at 2.30. Doors open one hour previous. Tom! The blind Negro boy--of musical inspiration! Sightless and untutored from birth--his very soul overflowing with musical genius. This youth is a remarkable phenomenon in one direction only, and that is his wonderful aptness for the piano forte! ... Tickets, 50 cents Reserved seats, 75 cents. Tickets for sale at the hall and at Trumpler's Music Store, 926 Chestnut St
Description: Thomas Greene Bethune or Thomas Greene Wiggins was known as Blind Tom., Illustration signed: Adrian-Probasco., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook., Digitized by Alexander Street Press for Images of the American Civil War., Readex Aug. 2017 update: missing 510 supplied.
Creator: Blind Tom, 1849-1908
Date: [1865]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare PB 1865 Blind (8)5761.F.59a (McAllister)

Title: The festival
Description: Set at Buckingham Hall, a fictional plantation near Charleston, South Carolina, this pro-slavery image presents a scene of general merriment. In accordance with the wishes of their benevolent master, Col. Buckingham, the slaves celebrate a "holiday and festival." Jerry, the leader of the band, sits upon a hogshead and plays his fiddle. Next to him, others play banjos, bones, and other instruments for the entertainment of a group of dancers. Other slaves eat ("from a fatted calf"), drink ("something better than water"), and socialize. Col. Buckingham and his family enjoy the festivites from a raised platform in a tree to the right., Illustration in Robert Criswell's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" contrasted with Buckingham Hall, the planter's home; or, A fair view of both sides of the slavery question (New York: Printed and published by D. Fanshaw, No. 108 Nassau-street, 1852), p. 112., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
Creator: Whitney & Annin, engraver
Date: [1852]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare 2 Wright 660 71441.O p 112, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A3139

Title: [African American musicians performing on a riverboat]
Description: Scene depicting a group of four African American men singing and playing guitars while surrounded by spectators, seated on the deck of a riverboat, possibly in Tennessee. The musicians sit on a raised platform with their feet dangling. The third performer to the right plays a star shaped guitar and sings with his head tilted back and mouth wide open. He props his right foot on a stool. In the right, two African American men sit in wooden chairs. Surrounding the musicians, white men, women, and children sit and stand and look on. In the background, people walk on the deck and the smokestacks are visible., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content and attire of the sitters., Gift of Elsie Wood Harmon, 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 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 scenes of African Americans, at national and international photography exhibitions. His photographs won several prizes.
Creator: Wood, George Bacon, 1832-1909, photographer
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photographs-Wood [P.8743.189]

Title: Cab Calloway [and his orchestra]
Description: Group portrait depicting orchestra leader and singer Cab Calloway and his African American orchestra waving goodbye alongside an United Air Lines plane. Calloway stands at the top of the boarding steps next to a white woman flight attendant and waves his left hand. The men, attired in suits and many holding hats, smile and wave at the viewer. Cabell Calloway III (1907–1994) was an American jazz singer, songwriter, dancer, bandleader, conductor and actor., Title from manuscript note on verso., 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: 1935
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators-Non-Philadelphia-Afro-Americana

Title: Use Lautz Bros. & Co's soaps, best in the market
Description: Racist trade card depicting an African American man minstrel musician to promote laundry soap. Shows the man, smiling, looking toward the viewer, sitting on a stool, bent over, and playing the cello. He picks the strings near the neck of the instrument with one hand and runs a bow along the strings at the lower body of it with the other. Sheet music is visible behind the man and above his head. The man is attired in a minstrel's costume, including a blue and white striped jacket with long tails, orange and white polka dot pants, and a white shirt with ruffles and the collar up. Lautz Bros. & Co. was originally founded in 1853 in Buffalo, New York as the Lautz Company by German immigrant Wilhelm Lautz Sr. After his death in 1866, his wife, sons, and grandsons continued to run the firm from Buffalo, New York through the early 20th century., Title from item., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Lautz [P.2017.95.103]

Title: Use Lautz Bros. & Co's soaps, best in the market
Description: Racist trade card depicting an African American man minstrel musician to promote laundry soap. Shows the man, in profile, sitting on a stool, his left foot wrapped around its leg, and playing the flute. A music stand with pages of sheet music is visible to the man's left. The man is attired in a minstrel costume, including a white and blue cone-shaped hat, an orange and white plaid jacket with long tails, a white shirt with ruffles, and yellow pants with a blue stripe. Lautz Bros. & Co. was originally founded in 1853 in Buffalo, New York as the Lautz Company by German immigrant Wilhelm Lautz Sr. After his death in 1866, his wife, sons, and grandsons continued to run the firm from Buffalo, New York through the early 20th century., Title from item., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Lautz [P.2017.95.104]

Title: Use Lautz Bros. & Co's soaps, best in the market
Description: Racist trade card depicting an African American man minstrel musician to promote laundry soap. Shows the man, in profile, looking toward the viewer marching with a drum strapped to his chest, and holding midstrike padded drumsticks in both hands. The man is attired in a white top hat adorned with a black ribbon, a red and white patterned jacket with long tails, a white shirt with ruffles and the collar up, and blue pants with a yellow stripe. Lautz Bros. & Co. was originally founded in 1853 in Buffalo, New York as the Lautz Company by German immigrant Wilhelm Lautz Sr. After his death in 1866, his wife, sons, and grandsons continued to run the firm from Buffalo, New York through the early 20th century., Title from item., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Lautz [P.2017.95.105]

Title: Use Lautz Bros. & Co's soaps, best in the market
Description: Racist trade card depicting African American man minstrel musician to promote laundry soap. Shows the man, in profile, smiling, holding a large tambourine in his right hand, and raising his left leg in the air in a skipping motion. The man is attired in a blue jacket with long tails, a white shirt with ruffles and the collar up, and orange and white striped pants. Lautz Bros. & Co. was originally founded in 1853 in Buffalo, New York as the Lautz Company by German immigrant Wilhelm Lautz Sr. After his death in 1866, his wife, sons, and grandsons continued to run the firm from Buffalo, New York through the early 20th century., Title from item., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - Lautz [P.2017.95.106]

Title: Compliments of McGeoch & Pierce
Description: Racist trade card depicting African American man minstrel musician to promote laundry soap. Shows the man, in profile, smiling, holding a large tambourine in his right hand, and raising his left leg in the air in a skipping motion. The man is attired in a blue jacket with long tails, a white shirt with ruffles and the collar up, and orange and white striped pants. McGeoch & Pierce was a clothing firm partly owned by M.L. Pierce in Greenwich, New York. Pierce joined the firm in 1881., Title from stamp on item., Date inferred from operation dates of advertised business as referenced in biographical entry for M.L. Pierce in "Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Adams, Clay, Hall and Hamilton Counties, Nebraska, Comprising a Condensed History of the State" (Chicago, 1890), p. 784., Advertising text on verso: Temple of Fashion, 83 Main St., Greenwich, N.Y. McGeoch & Pierce, Carry The Best Selected Stock of Clothing in Washington County. Mens' and Boy's Suits & Overcoats In all the New and desirable goods and styles. Fine Goods and Perfect Fit A Specialty. For your next suit call on McGeoch & Pierce, The Leaders in Low Prices., Gift of David Doret.
Date: [ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Goldman Trade Card Collection - McGeoch [P.2017.95.116]

Title: Robert Bogle
Description: Bust-length portrait of the respected Philadelphia African American caterer, proprietor of the Blue Bell Tavern, and member of Frank Johnson's band. One of several variant reproductions of the only known portrait of Bogle, possibly a study sketch for a print to accompany Philadelphia antiquarian Dreer's private printing in 1865 of Nicholas Biddle's 1830 poem, "Ode To Bogle," originally written in 1830. Bogle, attired in a white collared shirt, a white bowtie, and a brown jacket with a black collar, faces slightly left., Title from item., Date inferred from content., See LCP exhibition catalogue: The Larder Invaded, p. 65., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of portraits. McAllister Collection, gift, 1886., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [ca. 1865]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Portrait Prints-B [(1)5750.F.55b]

Title: " Blind Tom"
Description: Half-length portrait of the blind composer and pianist. Tom, attired in a white collared shirt, a tie, and a jacket, faces left with his eyes closed. Thomas Greene Wiggins also known as Thomas Bethune was born blind in Georgia to Charity and Domingo "Mingo" Wiggins. The family was enslaved by General James Neil Bethune, who hired Tom out to perform and tour extensively. He was a musical prodigy who could play by ear. He wrote over one hundred compositions and performed throughout his lifetime., Title from manuscript note written on mount., Date inferred from photographic medium and attire of the sitter., American Celebrities Album., Purchase 1985., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
Date: [ca. 1870]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department American Celebrities Album [(II)P.9100.44c]

Title: Band at Hampton [Institute, Va.]
Description: Film negative showing an African American men’s marching band playing on the lawn at the Hampton Institute. The men, attired in uniforms and caps, stand in rows and play a variety of instruments including brass, woodwind, and drums. In the background is a building with ivy-covered walls and an audience of men and women watching the musicians. 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., 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.2013.13.462]

Title: Band playing for march, [Hampton Institute, Va.]
Description: Film negative showing a marching band playing while a crowd of spectators looks on at Hampton Institute. The African American men musicians, attired in uniforms and caps, play their instruments and march down a walkway. Flanking them are white and African American men and women who watch. In the left is a brick building covered with ivy with several more buildings in the background. Trees line the walkway. 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., 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.2013.13.468]

Title: New market, in South Second Street Philadelphia
Description: Street scene with a view of the New Market shed on South Second Street. Depicts a group of men, women, and children with a dog, possibly a procession of a butcher's trade association, gathered across from the shed and by a bull decorated with garlands of flowers. An African American man fiddle player entertains the group as an African American boy and a dog runs toward them. Attached to the back of the shed is the fire engine house with cupola, known as the "headhouse." The New Market, erected about 1745, was created following a petition by the growing population of South Philadelphia residents who found it a hardship to cross Dock Creek to reach the High Street Market. The shed was razed in 1956 and rebuilt in 1963., Title from item., Illustrated in S. Robert Teitelman's Birch's views of Philadelphia. (Philadelphia: The Free Library of Philadelphia, 1982), pl. 16., Accessioned 1979., 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: W. Birch & Son
Date: 1799
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Birch's views [Sn 16/P.2276.35]

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]

Title: Band leading students to dinner, [Hampton Institute, Va.]
Description: Film negative showing a marching band leading a procession of African American women through two straight rows of African American men, attired in in uniforms and caps, at Hampton Institute. In the foreground, the African American men play their musical instruments while marching in five columns. Flanking them, the men stand at attention holding their hats to their chests. Following the band are several men carrying flags and the women, attired in white dresses, walking in rows. In the left, a crowd of white and African American men and women watch the scene. In the background, is the Hampton River where several boats sail and trees grow along the banks. 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., 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.2013.13.467]

Title: Mason's challenge blacking. James S. Mason & Co., nos. 138 & 140 North Front Street, Philadelphia
Description: Advertisement depicting a "shoe blacking" competition between two African American shoe shiners to promote the manufactory of blacking established in 1832 by James S. Mason. Shows two African American men, portrayed in racist caricature, holding a brush, a canister of "Mason's" blacking, and a boot, while they dance on a table. An African American man fiddler sits on a stool and plays. In the foreground, a white man holds an oversized boot. A white shoe shine boy, his pack on his back, stands behind an older man holding his arm as he points at his reflection in the boot. In the left background, a troop of white Union soldiers marches in behind a parade marshal adorned in "M" insignias. The men carry a banner reading "Mason's (Original) Challenge Blacking (Philadelphia)," as well as boots, and signs spelling "M-A-S-O-N." In the right background, a crowd of spectators, including figures likely representing Germany, the Ottoman Empire, Britain, and possibly France, stand and watch the competition attentively. Scene also includes boxes of Mason's Challenge Blacking. Following the death of Mason in 1888, his son Richard assumed the business which was in operation into the 20th century., Title from item., Date inferred from directory listings for the artist and engravers., Attributed by cataloger to Francis H. Schell, but possibly by Frederick B. Schell., 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.
Creator: Schell, Francis H., 1834-1909, artist
Date: [ca. 1863]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Ph Pr - 11x14 - Advertisements - M [P.2013.51]

Title: [Portrait album of well-known 19th-century African American men of Philadelphia]
Description: Photograph album containing identified portrait photographs, bust-length, half-length, and full-length, of twenty-one prominent Philadelphia African American men. Named sitters in order of inclusion in album include veteran Harmon Richardson attired in a military uniform; educator and activist Octavius Catto; civil rights activist Edwin Chew (son of John and Charlotte Henson Chew); janitor and later undertaker Guy M. Burton with musician Ed[ward] H. Johnson and Terry V. Hall; musician Joseph G. Anderson; Civil War veteran and waiter Taylor Aldridge; Johnson al-Jube holding a basket; laborer Parker T. Smith; Jeremiah V. Hall; George Hall; waiter William I. Lancaster; barber James Keith; caterer Henry Tobias; Cheslea Bass, barber and partner to James Keith, with caterer Andrew F. Stevens; Edwin Lewis; Jas. H. Williams ae.[sic] Rush; Thomas Proctor; and restauranteur/caterer Ja[me]s B. Page. Musicians Edward Johnson and Joseph G. Anderson were members of Francis Johnson's band in the 1830s and 40s., Title supplied by cataloger from label on spine., Date from content and medium of photographs., Cardboard binding with torn spine label inscribed: Portraits of Well Know[n]. Insides of binding covers include scribbles and a pasted partial scrap of a flower., Photographs are loose or attached to album pages within binding., Sitters, and occasionally their profession, identified by manuscript notes on verso of photograph or album page. Some notes include statement "deceased," including for sitters Harmon Richardson, Edwin Chew, Octavius Catto, Edward H. Johnson, Terry V. Hall, Joseph G. Anderson, Johnson al-Jube, George Hall, James H. Williams, and James Page., Mostly unidentified photographers with identified Philadelphia photographers John L. Gihon and Parlor Gallery., Portrait photograph of Octavius Catto reproduced after a circa 1871 portrait photograph taken by African American Philadelphia photographer Gallo W. Cheston and/or Philadelphia photographers Broadbent & Phillips. See "Amy Cohen's Catto the Forgotten Hero" at catto.ushistory.org/. See also Harper's Weekly 15 (October 28, 1871), p. 1005 and a copy of the original portrait at https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2006.8. Photograph stamped on verso: Kean Archives, Phila., Portrait photograph of Taylor Aldridge inscribed on verso: Nov. 27 '83., Verso of album page with portrait photograph of Edwin Lewis inscribed: July '83., Verso of album page with portrait photograph of James Page printed: Sharpless Bros. Dry Goods, Chestnut and Eighth Sts. Philadelphia., Purchase 1990., Description revised 2023., Access points revised 2023., 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. 1865-ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [P.9304]

Title: [Portrait album of well-known 19th-century African American men of Philadelphia]
Description: Photograph album containing identified portrait photographs, bust-length, half-length, and full-length, of twenty-one prominent Philadelphia African American men. Named sitters in order of inclusion in album include veteran Harmon Richardson attired in a military uniform; educator and activist Octavius Catto; civil rights activist Edwin Chew (son of John and Charlotte Henson Chew); janitor and later undertaker Guy M. Burton with musician Ed[ward] H. Johnson and Terry V. Hall; musician Joseph G. Anderson; Civil War veteran and waiter Taylor Aldridge; Johnson al-Jube holding a basket; laborer Parker T. Smith; Jeremiah V. Hall; George Hall; waiter William I. Lancaster; barber James Keith; caterer Henry Tobias; Cheslea Bass, barber and partner to James Keith, with caterer Andrew F. Stevens; Edwin Lewis; Jas. H. Williams ae.[sic] Rush; Thomas Proctor; and restauranteur/caterer Ja[me]s B. Page. Musicians Edward Johnson and Joseph G. Anderson were members of Francis Johnson's band in the 1830s and 40s., Title supplied by cataloger from label on spine., Date from content and medium of photographs., Cardboard binding with torn spine label inscribed: Portraits of Well Know[n]. Insides of binding covers include scribbles and a pasted partial scrap of a flower., Photographs are loose or attached to album pages within binding., Sitters, and occasionally their profession, identified by manuscript notes on verso of photograph or album page. Some notes include statement "deceased," including for sitters Harmon Richardson, Edwin Chew, Octavius Catto, Edward H. Johnson, Terry V. Hall, Joseph G. Anderson, Johnson al-Jube, George Hall, James H. Williams, and James Page., Mostly unidentified photographers with identified Philadelphia photographers John L. Gihon and Parlor Gallery., Portrait photograph of Octavius Catto reproduced after a circa 1871 portrait photograph taken by African American Philadelphia photographer Gallo W. Cheston and/or Philadelphia photographers Broadbent & Phillips. See "Amy Cohen's Catto the Forgotten Hero" at catto.ushistory.org/. See also Harper's Weekly 15 (October 28, 1871), p. 1005 and a copy of the original portrait at https://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.2006.8. Photograph stamped on verso: Kean Archives, Phila., Portrait photograph of Taylor Aldridge inscribed on verso: Nov. 27 '83., Verso of album page with portrait photograph of Edwin Lewis inscribed: July '83., Verso of album page with portrait photograph of James Page printed: Sharpless Bros. Dry Goods, Chestnut and Eighth Sts. Philadelphia., Purchase 1990., Description revised 2023., Access points revised 2023., 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. 1865-ca. 1885]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [P.9304]

Title: [Stevens-Cogdell and Sanders-Venning family portrait collection]
Description: Primarily studio portraits and snapshots of members of the Venning line of the middle-class Philadelphia African American family descended from the 19th-century white South Carolinian Richard Walpole Cogdell (1787-1866), and Sarah Martha Sanders (1815-1850), a Black enslaved woman. Includes professionally photographed group portraits depicting the family's participation in the Philadelphia African American music community of the early 20th century, including: the Mendelssohn Singing Society; Sid Stratton's Orchestra; the Treble Clef Mandolin and Guitar Club; and the Soap Box Social, a minstrel club associated with the African American political club, Citizen's Republican Club. Other formal portraiture includes the graduation portrait for the South Philadelphia High School for Girls class of 1921, including Lillie Venning and contralto Marian Anderson, and a group portrait of the Citizens Republican Club (ca. 1910). Collection also contains studio portraits and snaphots photographed during family summer excursions to Pleasantville and Atlantic City, New Jersey; portraits of family friends and family members through marriage; silhouettes of members of the Cogdell family cut by Master Hankes, i.e., Jarvis F. Hanks (ca. 1828); and an album (ca. 1860-ca. 1913) containing portraits of members of the Venning family and of unidentified sitters., Sitters include members from the Cogdell family, the Venning family, the Capps family, and the Saunders family. Cogdell family members include: Cecilia Cogdell, wife of Richard Walpole Cogdell, and three of their sons - James Gordon Cogdell, George Burgess Cogdell, and John Walpole Cogdell. Venning family members include: Richard Cogdell and Sarah Sanders' daughter, Julia Sanders Venning, her husband Edward Y. Venning (a contractor), and his brother, Richard DeReef Venning (a government clerk). Julia Sanders Venning and Edward Y. Venning's children - Louise Sanders Venning, Miranda Cogdell Venning (a school principal), Oliver Casey Venning (family historian), George Edward Venning (postal worker), Sarah (Sallie) Venning (Holden) (substitute teacher), and her husband William B. Holden (caterer). George Edward Venning and Julia Capps Venning's children - Mary Venning, Martha Venning (Bowie), and her husband Charles Bowie. Capps family members include: Julia Capps Venning's father Augustus Capps (butler), and her siblings, Lillie Capps Adams (educator/musician), Oscar Capps (post office clerk), Adolphus Capps (an undertaker), Berkley Capps (bellman), and Meta Capps (Thomas). Other sitters include family members George Saunders; Agnes Saunders; Georgine Rex Saunders (Chew); Mary Saunders (Patterson) (soprano and music instructor of Marian Anderson); Susan Saunders (Williams); Richard Sanders Chew; and Charles Sanders Chew; and acquaintances African American bibliophile and Tribune columnist William C. Bolivar, African American undertaker Joseph Seth, and Mrs. and Dr. Perry., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Date of silhouettes inferred from active dates in Charleston, S.C. of silhouettist Jarvis F. Hanks. See Charleston Courier, March 13, 1828, 2 and "For A Few Days," Charleston Courier, March 31, 1928, 3., Various photographers, including the following Philadelphia photographers: Bell Studio; Frederick Gutekunst; H.D. Garns & Co.; Moses S. Hagaman; Charles Hagemann & Co.; Frank W. Harris, Jr.; Miles & Foster; Parlor Gallery; Charles M. Sullivan; and Daniel Slutzky Studio., Sitters identified by descendants, from manuscript notes on versos, and/or accompanying photographic prints., P.9367.32, ca. 1900 pastel portrait of possibly Clara, nurse to children and grandchildren of Sarah Sanders and R. W. Cogdell, after ca. 1875 tintype photographed by J. Fenton (729 South St., Phila.), P.2012.37.1.23b, Richard DeReef Venning Album, Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning Collection., Lib. Company. Annual Report, 1991, p. 26-31., Gift of descendants Cordelia H. Brown, Lillie V. Dickerson, Mary Hinkson Jackson, and Georgine E. Willis in honor of Phil Lapsansky., LCP exhibit catalogue: African American Miscellany p. 45., Genealogical chart available at repository., 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., Middle-class African American family active in the Philadelphia African American political, social, educational, and cultural community from the 1850s to the 20th century. The family was involved in several prominent local African American institutions, including the St. Thomas P.E. Church, Church of the Crucifixion, Central Presbyterian Church, the Colored Institute of Youth, and the Citizens Republican Club.
Date: [ca. 1830 - ca. 1940, bulk 1910-1925]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | PRINT. Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning Collection [P.9367.1-51]

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