Search results

Title: [1433-1435 South Street, Philadelphia]
Description: Real estate photograph commissioned by Albert M. Greenfield & Co. probably for publication in the firm's monthly Real Estate Bulletin depicting a three-story commercial building containing empty storefronts. Building contains signage for Greenfield & Co. offering the building for sale or rent. In the left, a woman bundled against the cold sits on the front stoop. In the center, an African American man, attired in a cap, a white collared shirt, a tie, a waistcoat with a pocket watch chain, an overcoat, and pants, stands on the sidewalk with his hands in his pockets and looks left. There is a partial view of an adjoining shoe store and two automobiles., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso and embossed on recto., Manuscript notes on verso: 1433-35 South St. [and] 1433-35 South., Manuscript note on verso: S-128., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Photo Illustrators (Firm), photographer
Date: 1926-1929
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Greenfield collection [P.9789.5]

Title: Mt. Pleasant E. Park, John Macpherson 1761
Description: Exterior view depicting the country house built 1761-1765 for Captain John Macpherson after the designs of Thomas Nevil in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pa. Shows the front entrance to the mansion, covered in ivy, and flanked by outbuildings. Macpherson, a privateer during the Seven Years’ War, purchased the estate with profits from these operations. Free white and Black laborers, indentured servants, and at least four enslaved people of African descent, whose names are unknown, worked on the plantation. In 1779, General Benedict Arnold purchased Mount Pleasant for his wife Peggy Shippen, but they never occupied the house. In 1792, General Jonathan Williams purchased the mansion. The City of Philadelphia purchased the property from the Williams family in 1869. On behalf of the city, the Philadelphia Museum of Art restored the house in 1926., Title from inscription on mount., Date inferred from photographic medium., Purchase 1989., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Retrospective conversion record: original entry, edited.
Date: [ca. 1926]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Official Photographer [P.9260.329]

Title: [Broad Street Station fire, Philadelphia, June 1923]
Description: Scene showing smoke filled interior of the burnt train shed. Depicts laborers, including African Americans, clearing debris from a row of tracks upon which two burnt out train cars rest. Wires hang down from the skeletal framework ceiling. Fire hoses are strewn across the tracks. A camera and tripod rest on a walkway near the damaged trains. In the background, a group of well-dressed men and a group of firemen consult amongst debris. The fire, started by a short circuited cable, was at the time considered one of the worst fires in the city's history with an estimated $1,500,000 worth of damage. By the second day, despite the fire continuing to burn in areas, 2000 laborers began to clear debris and set up umbrella shelters to prepare for the station's planned reopening by the end of that week., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Purchase 1981., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [June 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - transportation [P.8683.13]

Title: [Aftermath of the Broad Street Station fire, Philadelphia, June 1923]
Description: Scene showing a large crowd of men and women commuters on a makeshift walkway stretching to the back of the interior of the train shed. Depicts the crowd, including African Americans, milling about on the landing overseen by a railroad conductor. Two laborers with a plank, one an African American, wait at the front of the crowd. Labor crews on either side of the commuters repair the destroyed platforms and tracks upon which burnt out train cars rest. Under a sign pointing left "To Filbert Street," a conductor and two men consult near a telephone box. The Broad Street Station fire started on a Monday and burned for three days. The fire was still burning when 2000 laborers began repairing the station to reopen that Friday., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Purchase 1981., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [June 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photographs- unidentified - transportation [P.8683.19]

Title: [Procession of Poor Richard Club members down Locust Street, Philadelphia]
Description: Procession of the advertising and publishing club established in 1906 in honor of Benjamin Franklin past the Poor Richard Club and the nightclub, "Club Madrid," on the 1300 block of Locust Street. Depicts the members being led by a Franklin impersonator and a man, wearing makeup and a curly, white wig and attired in an embellished long-sleeved shirt with a cap, shorts, and white stockings, on horseback. They are followed by costumed and uncostumed members. All the costumed "young Franklins," except for a few who hold flags and a club banner, carry loaves of bread simulating Franklin's arrival to Philadelphia. Spectators watch from the sidewalk and the street, including an African American chauffeur leaning on a parked car. Parade may commemorate the relocation of the club to 1319 Locust Street from 239 Camac Street on November 30, 1925., Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's blind stamp on recto., Gift of Joseph Kelly, 1982., Description revised 2022., 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.
Creator: Photo Illustrators (Firm), photographer
Date: [ca. 1925]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators-11x14 [P.8876.3]

Title: [Forrest Theatre prior to demolition for the construction of the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company building at the southeast corner of Broad and Sansom streets, Philadelphia ]
Description: View of the old Forrest Theatre on Broad Street at night shortly before being razed to be replaced by the Fidelity-Philadelphia Trust Company building. Spectators watch as laborers, mainly African American men, dismantle and remove building materials through a large hole in the side of the theatre. Signs for "Removal Sale" and "Drugs" are visible on the front of the building. Signage on the upper story window advertises "U.T.A United Tourist Agencies Travel Bureau." The Forrest Theatre, built in 1907, was Philadelphia's leading musical theater until its demolition in 1927., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Inscribed in negative: 1501, Gift of Philadelphia Savings Fund Society (PSFS), 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Jennings, William Nicholson, 1860-1946, photographer
Date: 1927
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Jennings - Fidelity series [P.9264.1]

Title: [Fire truck in front of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Philadelphia]
Description: Scene in front of St. Patrick's Church showing a man in a suit climbing an extension ladder attached to a fire truck parked on Rittenhouse Street. Firemen attend the ladder from inside the truck. Spectators, including an African American man, gather on the street corners near a drugstore and residence., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and attire of the people., Part of a series of five views of the scene., Gift of Joseph Kelly, 1982., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Photo Illustrators (Firm), photographer
Date: [ca. 1926]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators [P.8802.42]

Title: [Boys' music class]
Description: Depicts a white woman music teacher at a piano leading a class of five boys, including an African American child. In the right, the woman sits on a piano stool with her fingers on the keys. In the left, four boys stand in a line. In the right, an African American boy sits in a chair beside the piano with his legs crossed. In the background is a phonograph and a blackboard with musical notes written in chalk., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content and attire of the sitters., Gift of Joseph Kelly, 1982., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Photo Illustrators (Firm), photographer
Date: [ca. 1925]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators [P.8846.25]

Title: Antique store, Pine Street e. of 13th St
Description: Exterior view depicting the two-and-a-half story antique shop of James Eham, an African American, at 1237 Pine Street. Shop is heavily adorned with antiques and curiosities, including cigar store Native Americans, ship models, and weather vanes. Candlesticks and a menorah are displayed in the first floor windows. Eham, born enslaved in Virginia, settled in Philadelphia in 1876 and soon after became an antiques dealer. By 1927, he owned two antique stores in Philadelphia and one in New York. Eham was also a Baptist minister, as well as worked as a hotel porter later in his life., Title from descriptive manuscript note by photographer on verso., Photographer's manuscript note on verso: An interesting old negro is the proprietor of this curious shop., Gift of Mrs. Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Research file about James Eham (1842-1930) available at repository.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.175], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson175.htm

Title: [Construction of the Frankford Elevated railroad tracks at Front and Arch Streets in Philadelphia, September 6, 1922]
Description: Scene showing predominantly African American construction workers laying down railroad tracks near a block of rowhouses at Front and Arch Streets in Philadelphia. The men are surrounded by piled planks, buckets, and construction debris. Many of the workers have stopped to pose, including a white man, possibly a foreman. In the left, two men continue to work and consult near steps by a curved railing. The half completed tracks, bridge platform, a billboard, factory buildings, and water tower are visible in the background. Constructed under the auspices of the City of Philadelphia's Department of City Transit (later Transit Operations and Planning Division) between 1915 and 1922, the Frankford Elevated Railway consisted of a two track structure six miles in length that extended north over the roadway of Front Street, Kensington Avenue and Frankford Avenue between Arch and Bridge Streets. Operated under lease to the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company (later South Eastern Public Transportation Authority or SEPTA), the line opened November 5, 1922., Title supplied by cataloger., 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: [September 6, 1922]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photos - unidentified - Construction [P.9260.419]

Title: [African American construction crew installing a utility pole]
Description: Scene of a crew of African American men construction workers nearing completion of the installation of a utility pole along a cobblestone city street lined with homes and businesses. Most of the crew members hold their mallets on their shoulders and wait on the sidewalk as another laborer retrieves a long pipe from their nearby utility truck. A mound of freshly dug dirt is piled near his feet. A white pedestrian observes the scene. A gas station is visible on the opposite side of the street., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from photographic medium and 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. 1925]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - construction [P.9260.603]

Title: [Broad Street Station fire, Philadelphia, June 12, 1923]
Description: View of the interior of the burnt out train shed during the fire of June 11-13, 1923. Depicts several workers, including African Americans, building a new train platform and clearing debris from the tracks near the destroyed row of gates. Slightly damaged train cars and engines trapped by the fire, including "Al G. Barnes Wild Animal Circus," rest on the tracks. Large burnt pieces of the destroyed ceiling lay under a "Baggage Claim" sign. The Broad Street Station fire, started Monday, June 11, 1923 by a short circuited cable, was at the time considered one of the worst fires in the city's history with an estimated $1,500,000 worth of damage. By the second day, despite the fire continuing to burn in areas, 2000 laborers began to clear debris and set up umbrella shelters to prepare for the station's reopening at the end of that week., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Manuscript note on verso: Tues. noon., Reproduced in Harry Albrecht. Broad Street Station.... (Harry P. Albrecht: Philadelphia: 1976), p.30. (LCP Ok A1026.O.5), Purchase 1981., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: [June 12, 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - unidentified - transportation - railroad [P.8683.9]

Title: Chapel in negro cemetery on 47 St. no. of Lancaster Ave
Description: Depicts the dilapidated chapel at Olive Cemetery on Girard Avenue between Merion and Belmont Avenues in Philadelphia. In the right, African American children sit in and stand near the chapel's doorway. Four young children sit within the covered doorway and look at the viewer. A small boy stands beside the door and faces the viewer. Olive Cemetery, established in February 1849, was one of the city's largest African American administered business enterprises which by the late 19th century had failed due to mismanagement., Title from descriptive manuscript note by photographer on verso., Photographer's manuscript note on verso: This cemetary [sic] will soon make way for modern buildings (1925). Romanesque., Gift of Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.239], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson239.htm

Title: [Olive Cemetery chapel, Girard Avenue between Marion and Belmont Avenues, Philadelphia.]
Description: View showing the chapel at the African American cemetery, Olive Cemetery. African American children sit in the doorway of the chapel, which stands behind a dilapidated stone and wrought iron gate. The cemetery, established in February 1849, was one of the city's largest African American administered business enterprises, which by the late 19th century had gone to ruination due to mismanagement. The Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Persons is visible in the background., Photographer's manuscript note on verso: 47 Street no. of Lancaster Ave., Gift of Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.240], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson240.htm

Title: Logan Square, Park Boulevard, Philadelphia
Description: Scene depicting two African American women walking past the Swann Memorial Fountain at Logan Square in Philadelphia before the installation of Alexander Stirling Calder's sculpted naiad figures in 1924. In the foreground, two women walk side-by-side on the sidewalk in front of the active fountain. Walking on the inside, the woman is attired in a black dress, stockings, and shoes, and the woman walking on the outside closer to the viewer is attired in a patterned dress, black stockings, and shoes., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date inferred from content., Duplicate print of P.8513.9., Gift of Mrs. Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.109], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson109.htm

Title: Logan Circle
Description: Scene depicting two African American women walking past the Swann Memorial Fountain at Logan Square in Philadelphia before the installation of Alexander Stirling Calder's sculpted naiad figures in 1924. In the foreground, two women walk side-by-side on the sidewalk in front of the active fountain. Walking on the inside, the woman is attired in a black dress, stockings, and shoes, and the woman walking on the outside closer to the viewer is attired in a patterned dress, black stockings, and shoes., Title from photographer's manuscript note on verso., Date inferred from content., Duplicate print P.8513.109., Digital file shows P.8513.109., Gift of Mrs. Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.9], Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department P.8513.9, http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson109.htm

Title: Court. Lombard St. W. of 7
Description: Depicts the courtyard between the brick residences of 710 and 714 Lombard Street, Philadelphia. An African American man, attired in a brimmed hat, a white shirt, dark-colored pants, and shoes, stands in the courtyard near 710 facing the viewer. In the right, several children, including African Americans, sit on the stoop of the opposite residence. Chairs are visible in the courtyard., Title from manuscript note on verso., Gift of Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Wilson [P.8513.88], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson88.htm

Title: A little rural scene in Frankford
Description: Exterior view showing a quaint area of the Frankford section of Philadelphia including Campbell African Methodist Episcopal Church on the 1600 block of Oxford Avenue (that is Kinsey Street). In the right, is a two-story, colonial-style home with shuttered windows situated behind a fence. In the left is the African American church, founded in 1804, with its door open. Several trees line the property. A fire hydrant is visible in the left foreground., Title from descriptive manuscript note by photographer on verso., Photographer's manuscript note on verso: One block away the Frankford El rumbles past - the trolleys clang, and general traffic rolls along., Gift of Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.206], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson206.htm

Title: [Arthur Showell]
Description: Full-length studio portrait showing Showell, seated in a chair, and attired in a suit, tie, and spats. His legs are crossed, with one hand resting on his knee, and the other hand resting on the arm of the chair. A studio backdrop is visible in the background. Showell, a resident of South Philadelphia, worked as a laborer with the Adams Express Co. He also served in World War I in the 368th Infantry, part of the African American 92nd Infantry Division known as the "Buffalo Soldiers.", Title supplied by cataloguer., Gift of Brice C. Showell., Fragile condition.
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait photographs - misc. - sitter - Showell [P.2015.1.1]

Title: [Progress photographs documenting the construction of the Sesquicentennial Exhibition, South Philadelphia, 1926]
Description: Series of progress photographs of the construction of the Tower of Light and "Progress on Lagoon" west of Broad Street and near Packer Street. Photographs depict the construction of the tower from its foundation to completion and the early stages of development of the lagoon from muddy marshland. Images show construction workers, including African Americans; construction equipment and supplies; automobiles and horse-drawn wagons; and foot traffic, including spectators. Lagoon photographs also show neighboring exhibition buildings under construction. Series also contains a view of the completed exhibition grounds. In the foreground, cars and visitors travel past the "Kodak" building. In the background, other exhibition buildings, including the "Battle of Gettysburg" theater, "Fire and Flame" hall, Alpine Haus restaurant, and Louis Mark Model Shoe Manufactory, are visible. The exhibition near the Navy Yard celebrated the 150th anniversary of independence in Philadelphia through attractions and entertainment in the form of pageants, exhibitions and sporting events., Title supplied by cataloger., Negative numbers written lower right corner. Includes 644; 1257; 1715; 1922- 1923, 1927, 3171; and 4057., Three photographs contain dates. Dates include: June 13, 1926 (Neg. #1257); June 26, 1926 (Neg. #1715); and July 2, 1926 (Neg. #1923)., See also related collection: Brightbill postcards [Sesquicentennial Exposition - 155]., Purchase 2010., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of the Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Cardinell, John D., photographer
Date: [1926]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photo - Cardinell [P.2010.18.2-9]

Title: Halloween party given by the Craftsman Club of the Reading Co
Description: Group portrait of the male and female attendees, ranging in age from child to adult, in front of a stage. Most are attired in Halloween costume, many in masks and hats, and including clowns, a soldier, a pirate, a chef, and possibly a mummer’s headdress. In the right, a boy wearing Black face and attired as a bell hop, stands and smiles. "Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and remaining in American life through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of Black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humor and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes.", Title from manuscript note on verso., Photographer's blind stamp on recto., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Description of Blackface minstrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021., Gift of Joseph Kelly, 1982., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Photo Illustrators (Firm), photographer
Date: [ca. 1925]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators - 11x14 [P.8882.12]

Title: [Finale of an unidentified theatrical production]
Description: Depicts the entire cast of men gesturing toward center stage where the show's "female" star is hoisted on the shoulders of two cast members. In the left, a supporting player, wearing Black face and costumed as a messenger in a cap and white gloves, kneels and points with his right hand. The front row of actors kneel, many of whom are attired as women in large brimmed hats and dresses with tulle skirts. The back row of actors stand, attired in white collared shirts, ties, dark-colored jackets, and white pants. The backdrop depicts a small town street including "Bernies Antique Shop," a drug store, and a post office. "Blackface minstrelsy is a popular entertainment form, originating in the United States in the mid-19th century and remaining in American life through the 20th century. The form is based around stereotypical and racist portrayals of African Americans, including mocking dialect, parodic lyrics, and the application of Black face paint; all designed to portray African Americans as othered subjects of humor and disrespect. Blackface was a dominant form for theatrical and musical performances for decades, both on stage and in private homes.", Title supplied by cataloger., Photographer's imprint ink stamped on verso., Description of Blackface minstrelsy from Dorothy Berry, Descriptive Equity and Clarity around Blackface Minstrelsy in H(arvard) T(heater) C(ollection) Collections, 2021., Gift of Joseph Kelly, 1982., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Photo Illustrators (Firm), photographer
Date: [ca. 1925]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators-11x14 [P.8882.20]

Title: 1908 South Street
Description: Real estate photograph commissioned by Albert M. Greenfield & Company depicting Silverman's Pawn Shop and Old Reliable Clothing House for sale. Clothing, jewelry, and musical instruments are prominently displayed in the store windows. Image includes adjacent buildings at 1906 and 1910 South Street of an African American "Hair Shop of Mme. V.V. Maginley," and an abandoned Army & Navy store. The hair shop displays several beauty products and Black dolls. Posters for the "101 Ranch Wild West Street Parade" hang in the windows of the abandoned store. Also visible in the right is a man pedestrian (out of focus and ghost-like). The real estate firm was established in 1905. The Greenfield Bulletin contained photographic illustrations, property listings, and articles about the firm's important brokerage and development deals., Title from manuscript note on verso., Date based on content and active dates of the photographer., Photographer's imprint inscribed on negative., Negative inscribed: 606 D2., Stamped on verso: Greenfield Bulletin, Issue June. Page 4. No. 4., Purchase 2000., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Rau Studios, established in Philadelphia in 1887 by William Herman Rau, was a respected commercial firm which operated until around the early 1930s.
Creator: Rau Studios, photographer
Date: [ca. 1927]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photographs-Greenfield Collection [P.9789.13]

Title: "What do you all want to do wif dat pixture tak'en contraption"
Description: Depicts an older African American woman, with a stern expression, her arms crossed in front of her body, standing next to her brick home at Jessup and Irving Streets in Philadelphia. According to the photographer, the home is "a good example of a skilled mechanics home - the middle class of from 60 to 80 years ago," and that the woman was coaxed in to allowing the photograph after he described her house as "quaint" and she as "beautiful." Today this house is connected to the one behind it on Quince Street. Plaques on Quince Street house list builder of both buildings as Henry Vollum in 1813; the architect of additions and alterations made in 1924 was Wetherill P. Trout; those involved with connecting the two buildings in 1989 were Francis Henkels, architect, Diana Fertik, designer, and Philip Johnson, builder., Title from descriptive manuscript note on verso., Photographer's manuscript note on verso: "I don't 'low no one no how to make no fotygraf of me nor my house." "Madam" we said "we are interested in quaint old residences and beautiful women and desire to have the camra [sic] record both." The picture was a natural sequence of this little speech. The house is not far from 10[th] and Locust Sts. - Jessup and Warnock Sts. Now I wonder how many know where Jessup and Warnock Sts. bisect."A good example of a skilled mechanics home, or as this and other 'wider spread' bread earners are now designated "the middle class of from 60 to 80 years ago.", Gift of Mrs. Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.188], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson188.htm

Title: [Young African American woman]
Description: Sample of photo restoration work depicting a damaged and touched up bust-length portrait mounted side-by-side of a young African American woman. The woman, attired in a beret, a white shirt, and a plaid jacket, faces right with her eyes looking left., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from attire of the sitter., Gift of Joseph Kelly, 1982., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Photo Illustrators (Firm)
Date: [ca. 1930]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Photo-Illustrators-Non-Philadelphia-Afro-Americana

Title: Digging potatoes with modern machinery
Description: Touched up newspaper photograph depicting a portrait of the back of an African American man riding his horse-drawn "Iron Age" potato machine as he harvests a field of potatoes. The man, attired in a brimmed hat, a long-sleeved shirt, overalls, and shoes, sits on the machine and holds the reins to the two horses. The machine is pulled down rows of potato plants. The newly harvested potatoes are visible on the ground., Title from typed note pasted on verso., Printed caption pasted on verso: "Digging Potatoes with Modern Machinery.", Manuscript note on verso: Bateman & Cos Inc., Grenloch, N.J., Gift of Jane Abrams Bender, 1997., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: March 25, 1928
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department photos - unidentified - Industry [P.9520.51]

Title: [African American woman playing tambourine]
Description: Snapshot photograph showing an African American woman outside and playing a tambourine between two white women who play guitars. The white woman in the left is partially removed from the view and the white woman in the right is partially obscured by the woman playing tambourine. The tambourine player has her hair pulled back and wears a silk shawl and long, ruffled, tiered skirt. Spectators, including an African American boy attired in overalls, and white men attired in summer suits stand near and behind the women. Wooden warehouse and barn-like structures, including one with signage reading "Sterline," are visible in the background., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from format of photograph and attire of sitters., Gift of Ivan Jurin, 2019., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022.
Date: [ca. 1925]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait photographs - misc. - sitter - female [P.2019.2.1]

Title: Graduating class of June 19[24]. The McMichael School - Phila. PA
Description: Class portrait of students, including African American children, from the school at 36th Street and Fairmount Avenue named after Philadelphia mayor Morton McMichael. Six rows of children sit and stand, posed outside the school, which was organized in 1892 from students from the Belmont and Haverford schools., Title from item., Photographer's stamp on verso: Dan E. Paul Commercial Photography Bell Phone 2225 N. 2nd St. Phila, PA., Gift of Elizabeth MacGuire, 2002., 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: Paul, Dan E., photographer
Date: 1924
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department group portrait photographs - education - McMichael School [P.2002.35.1]

Title: [George H. McFadden and E.T. Stotesbury in Palm Beach, Florida, winter 1921]
Description: Portrait of Philadelphia financier, Edward T. Stotesbury, and Philadelphia cotton merchant, George H. McFadden in a rickshaw driven by an African American man near a palm tree in Palm Beach. Stotesbury and McFadden sit in the wicker rickshaw and look at the viewer. At the back, the African American man, attired in a brimmed hat, a white collared shirt, a tie, a waistcoat, a jacket, pants, and shoes, sits with his feet on the pedals and looks at the viewer., Title supplied by cataloger., Manuscript note on recto and verso., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date: 1921
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department LCP postcards - portraits [P.9276.52]

Title: Daily Vacational Bible School #63
Description: Group portrait photograph depicting the African American Bible school, students and instructors, posed before a large brick residence, probably in Philadelphia. The students and men and women teachers sit and stand in five rows. In the right back row, two boys hold baseball bats., Title, date, and photographer's imprint inscribed in negative., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Paul, Dan E., photographer
Date: 1920
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *group portrait photographs - education [P.9273.7]

Title: [African American basketball team]
Description: Group portrait photograph depicting members of an African American basketball team with their coach, probably in Philadelphia. Three players sit on wooden chairs, the middle one with a basketball on his lap. Behind them, the coach and three more players stand and look at the viewer. The athletes are attired in uniforms consisting of a sleeveless shirt with a logo on the front, shorts, knee-length socks, and shoes. Posters for good health and African American participation in athletics hang on the walls, possibly of a Boys' Club or YMCA., Title from item., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., 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 Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Paul, Dan E., photographer
Date: [ca. 1920]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department *group portrait photographs - recreation [P.9273.6]

Title: Bread St. bel. Arch St. A Jewish family and a delegation of the darktown brigade
Description: Exterior view of depicting the entrance of a Jewish family’s brick house north of Arch Street in Philadelphia. In the right, a white man, attired in a cap, a collared sweater, pants, and shoes, holds a broom and sweeps in front of the door. In the left, four white women peer out of two first-floor shuttered windows and look at the viewer. Underneath the windows five young African American children sit, attired in winter hats and coats. Smoke from a fire in the street wafts in front of the children., Title from descriptive manuscript note by photographer on verso., Photographer's manuscript note on verso: Wisp of haze near centre of picture is smoke from a fire in the street opposite the house. Certin [sic] rooms in the building had just been papered and a bonfire was made of the refuse. This house is about 125 yrs old. Note the splendid condition of the brick work and mortor [sic] joints. Bricks were carfully [sic] made in those days. The proper proportion and careful selection of loam, shale and sand was an art. Then too the drying and baking of the brick was of vast importance and was done with the utmost attention towards the securing of the best results. These bricks were baked with wood fires, as was the lime on which they were laid. Explain why wood baked lime and bricks are superior to the coal baked product., Gift of Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.84], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson84.htm

Title: Bread St. bel. Arch St
Description: Exterior view of depicting the entrance of a Jewish family’s brick house north of Arch Street in Philadelphia. In the right, a white man, attired in a cap, a collared sweater, pants, and shoes, holds a broom and sweeps in front of the door. In the left, four white women peer out of two first-floor shuttered windows and look at the viewer. Underneath the windows five young African American children sit, attired in winter hats and coats., Title from descriptive manuscript note by photographer on verso., Photographer's manuscript note on verso: (without wisp of smoke). Mortor [sic] was mixed in those days in a huge mortor [sic] box. The lime was slacked by shoveling it into the box, permitting water to flow into the box and keeping the mass in constant motion with a hoe, thereby preventing the lime from being burned or killed, when properly slacked, it was run off into a basin of sand, where it was mixed with the sand and made ready for use., Gift of Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.97], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson97.htm

Title: 2nd and Brown St. A stevedore, a family
Description: Depicts an African American dock worker in his work clothes posed outside of his Philadelphia home with his four children. The children are dressed in old, worn clothes. In the left, the teenaged boy, attired in a knit cap, a coat, pants, and shoes, has a stern expression as he looks at the viewer. Beside him stands the African American man, wearing a mustache and attired in a cap, a sweater, torn and worn coveralls, and boots. In the center, the boy, attired in shirt, a coat with a belt at the waist, torn and worn shorts, socks, and worn shoes, stands with his hands at his sides. In the right, the young boy, attired in a hat, an oversized coat, socks, and shoes, and the boy, attired in a hat, a collared shirt, a coat, shoes, socks, and shoes, look at the viewer with their hands at their sides., Title from descriptive manuscript note by photographer on verso., Photographer's manuscript note on verso: Three wives. Wife no. 3 is in the house "fussingup". No Sir-ee you is not gwan to took mah picture in deese ol' c'los., Reproduced in Frederic M. Miller, Morris J. Vogel, and Allen F. Davis' Still Philadelphia: A photographic history, 1890-1940 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1983), p. 164., Gift of Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Creator: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.92], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson92.htm

Title: Bartram gardens, Phila[delphia]
Description: Depicts three well-dressed children, including an African American girl, posed on and around a large stone trough by the wall of a building in Bartram's Garden. In the left, a white boy, attired in a white collared shirt, a striped tie, light-colored shorts, black socks, and shoes, stands facing the viewer with his left hand on the trough. The African American girl, attired in a short-sleeved dress with white trim at the neck, cuffs, and waist, stands behind the trough with her left hand resting on its rim. In the right , a white boy, attired in a short-sleeved, white collared shirt, shorts, and socks, sits on the trough with his legs hanging inside it. Bartram's Garden, the first botanic garden in the country cultivated by botanist and farmer John Bartram in the mid-18th century, was restored by the John Bartram Association in the 1920s after many years of neglect., Title from manuscript note by photographer on verso., Gift of Margaret Odewalt Sweeney, 1979., Description revised 2022., Access point 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: Wilson, G. Mark (George Mark), 1879-1925, photographer
Date: [ca. 1923]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Wilson [P.8513.115], http://www.lcpimages.org/wilson/wilson115.htm

Title: Testimonial banquet to Ms. Eugenia M. Neal. Daughter Ruler Keystone Temple, No. 448 I.B.P.O.E.W., Dec. 8, 1930. O. V. Catto Elks Home, Philadelphia
Description: Panoramic group portrait photograph depicting over one hundred African American men and women, of all ages, at a testimonial banquet of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World for Eugenia Neal (1873-1949). The attendees, attired in evening wear, sit at rows of tables and a few booths in the right of the room. Attendees wear suits, tuxedos, and evening and cocktail dresses. Most of the sitters do not smile and face the camera. Some are turned away or eating. Some of the men wear their I.B.P.O.E.W. fezzes. In the right background, one woman has an arch of flowers over her. The tables are covered in white tablecloths and lined with plates of food, serving platters, and silver pitchers. In the background, at the back of the room, a small band of men musicians is seated next to a woman at a piano. Streamers and a paper bell adorn the ceiling. The O.V. Catto Elks Lodge began in 1903 as a chapter of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World established in 1897 with a mission to "practice charity by providing and performing charitable services in our communities throughout the world and by promoting harmony, friendship, and unity among our esteemed members." By 1926, the Lodge had over 3000 members, and in 1929, it relocated to a new building that included a boxing ring, basketball court, and rooftop garden, at 16th and Fitzwater. Eugenia Neal, born Eugenia Brisby in Virginia, worked as a typesetter in Philadelphia by 1920. Married to Moses Neal in 1896, the couple resided in Atlantic City before relocating to Philadelphia by 1910. As a Daughter Ruler, Neal lead the Keystone Temple with her male counterpart, Exalted Ruler, and "under their leadership, all Elks shall show[ed] truth in activities and live[d] to help others, while promoting Brotherly and Sisterly Love to all.", Title and date from item.
Date: [1930]
Location: Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department framed graphics [P.2023.5]

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