Full-length portrait of the African American women conjoined twins and performers known as the "two-headed nightingale" and "Carolina twins." The twins wear their hair in chin-length pin curls and are attired in an off-the shoulder, short-sleeved, light-colored, calf-lengthed dress, black boots, and crown-shaped headpieces adorned with stars. Millie (left) holds a newpaper to her side in her left hand. Christine (right) holds a book in her hands in front of her. They stand, looking toward the viewer, and posed in front of a backdrop depicting a window view. The feet of a posing stand are visible behind their feet. Millie and Christine were born in Whiteville, North Carolina on July 11, 1851, to Jacob and Monemia McKoy who were enslaved to Jabez McKay. Various enslavers and managers exhibited the twins nationally and internationally. In 1870, the sisters traveled and performed throughout the midwest., Title from item., Photographer's imprint printed on verso., Contains semi-legible printed ink transfer in upper edge of image., See History and medical description of the two-headed girl:...(Buffalo, N.Y.: Warren, Johnson, & Co., 1869). (LCP Am 1869 Hist, 70318.D)., RVCDC, John H. Fitzgibbon was a St. Louis photographer who began as a daguerreotypist. He operated from 116 North Fourth Street between 1866 and 1876 before founding the journal, "The St. Louis Practical Photographer and Illustrated Monthly Journal."
Creator
Fitzgibbon, John H., 1816?-1882, photographer
Date
[ca. 1870]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Millie [P.2023.28]
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
Bust-length photographic reproduction of engraved portrait vignette of the 16th President of the United States and author of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Lincoln, attired in a white collared shirt, a black bowtie, waistcoat, and jacket, looks right., Title supplied by cataloger., Accessioned 2001., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014.
Date
[ca. 1872]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Lincoln [P.9881]
Half-length portrait of the 16th President of the United States and author of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. Lincoln, without a beard and attired in a white collared shirt, a black bowtie, waistcoat, and jacket, is in right profile. Photographed in Springfield, Illinois by Chicago photographer Alexander Hesler, the negative was acquired by George B. Ayers in 1865. Ayers printed and distributed a limited number of copy prints from the negative in the 1880s, and large numbers in the 1890s., Title supplied by cataloger., Manuscript note on verso: Copyright George B. Ayers Phila., Gift of Julia S. Obermayer, 1985., Illustrated in James Mellon's The Face of Lincoln (New York: Bonanza Books, 1979), p. 78., LCP also holds larger framed photomechanical print of the same portrait. (Inv. #657)., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021.
Creator
Hesler, Alexander, 1823-1895, photographer
Date
photographed June 3, 1860, printed ca. 1895
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department portrait photographs - sitters - Lincoln [P.9078.1]
Photographic reproduction of a racist caricature satirizing the forced conscription of the poor and immigrant classes unable to pay for substitutes during the Civil War. Shows Abraham Lincoln feeding a bottle of the "Black Draft" to a haggard looking man who sits with his feet in a tub. The bottle of "Black Draft" contains figures of African Americans., Originally part of a McAllister scrapbook of materials related to Abraham Lincoln.
Date
ca. 1863
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv - miscellaneous - Civil War - Bispham - Caricatures and cartoon [5792.F.4g]
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]
Full-length portrait of a smiling African American boy, attired in a long-sleeved white shirt, black pants, black shoes, and a white apron, standing in front of a balustrade. He holds in front of him a serving tray of dishware., Photographer's imprint stamped on verso., Title supplied by cataloger., Date based on the active working dates of the photographer and attire of the subject., Purchase 2001., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Keenan operated his studio at 526 South Second Street from around 1855 until 1867.
Creator
Keenan, John A., photographer
Date
[ca. 1861]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits – photographer – Keenan [P.9981.3]
African American woman sitting in a meadow holding up a small dog from her lap. The woman, attired in a short-sleeved dress, smiles and looks at the viewer as she holds a small white and brown dog up. Trees and a vegetable garden are visual in the background., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from attire of sitter and active dates of the photographer., Purchase 1988., Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Part of digital collections catalog through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services as administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Education through the Office of Commonwealth Libraries, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Tom Corbett, Governor, 2013-2014., Rich was a professional Philadelphia landscape photographer and avid traveler who privately produced several candid portraits of family and friends.
Creator
Rich, James Bartlett, 1866-1942, photographer
Date
[ca. 1920]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Rich - Portraits - Unidentified [P.9266.970]
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]
Photograph album of African American government worker Richard DeReef Venning, a member of the African American middle-class Stevens-Cogdell and Sanders-Venning family, and containing predominantly unidentified portraits of African American and white men, women, and children, including family and friends. Contains bust, half and full-length portraits, often studio portraits. Several of the female sitters wear ornate hairstyles and many sitters also wear crosses. Also contains a carte de visite reproduction of a painted portrait of possibly George Cogdell (p.16) and a carte de visite inscribed “Pete” and “Sam” showing two men in checkered patterned jumper costumes, wigs, hats, and full-face masks (p.18). Identified sitters include Samuel Le Count Cook (p.2, photograph dated 7/4/[18]90 and imprint of DC photographer Rice on verso, ), Edward W. Venning (p.13, photograph dated 1869 and imprint of Philadelphia photographer G.W. Cheston on verso), Sarah Venning (p.13 &14, imprint of Philadelphia photographer Larkin on the verso), Richard DeReef Venning (p.13, photograph dated 12/7/[18]74 on recto and imprint of Philadelphia photographer Henrici & Garns on verso), Sarah Ann Sanders, daughter of Sarah Sanders (p.14, lower right, ca. 1865, inscribed on recto: S.A.S.; imprint of Philadelphia photographer B.F. Reimer and "property of ed. y.v." inscribed on verso), Cordelia Chew Hinkson (p.35), and Cordelia Hinkson Brown as a baby (p.35). Other sitters may possibly be William H. Chew (p.1), Addie Howard (p.3) and George Washington Musgrave (group portrait, p.19)., Album also contains a portrait signed "Ellie" (p. 22, photograph dated 11/16/[1875] and imprint of NY photographer G.H. Johnson on verso) and an unidentified portrait that is likely Cordelia Sanders (Chew) and her sons Richard and Charles Chew (p.15, lower left, imprint of Philadelphia photographer Miles & Foster on verso). Another unidentified portrait is likely Jacob C. White, co-founder of the Pythians, Philadelphia's first African American baseball club (p. 27, upper left, imprint of Philadelphia photographer Gutekunst). Also contained are inserted portraits (rehoused on boards and with album), including one of a Black man inscribed "H.S.S." and Jan. 11/82 on the recto and verso of the mount (L.W. Cook, Boston, photographer) and one of a Black woman inscribed "Respects of Marie" on the verso (J.P. Silver, photographer)., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Contains title page: Album. Page illustrated with ornamental border., Contains several loose portaits., Various photographers, including Philadelphia photographers H. D. Garns & Co., G. W. Chesterton, African American photographer Gallo Cheston, Larkin Gallery, O. B. DeMorat, C. Hagemann & Co., Henrici & Garns, B. F. Reimer, H. D. Garns & Co., Miles & Foster, Broadbent & Phillips, M. S. Hagaman, Lothrop’s Ferrotype Gallery, Germon, J. Fenton, J. P. Silver, Parlor Galleries, as well as Washington, D.C. photographers Kets Kemethy and Rice, Norfolk photographer J. A. Faber, Trenton photographer J. Bainbridge, Charleston photographer Jesse E. Bolles, Boston photographer L. W. Cook, Salem photographer Smith & Bousley, and New York photographer G. H. Johnson., Inscription on front free end paper: R.D. Reef Venning, June 12/84, Washington, D.C., Some of the photographs contain inscriptions, including dates, identifications, and valedictions, on the versos., Label pasted on back cover: No. 464 Gately & Haskell, booksellers, Hoen building, Baltimore, MD., Ca. 1900 pastel portrait of possibly Clara, nurse to children and grandchildren of Sarah Sanders and R. W. Cogdell (P.9367.32, Stevens-Cogdell/ Sanders-Venning Collection) after ca. 1875 tintype photographed by J. Fenton (729 South St., Phila) P.2012.37.1.23b originally inserted in album and housed with album., See 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., See LCP exhibit catalogue: African American Miscellany p. 45., Genealogical charts available at repository., Some photographs dated during conservation treatment in July 2021. Conservation notes in collection research file at repository (Graphic Arts Department)., 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., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Richard DeReef Venning (1846-1929), born in Philadelphia, was son of seamstress Elizabeth and carpenter Edward W. Venning. Venning worked as a grocer in Philadelphia before being appointed as a clerk to the Eastern Division of the Pension Office in 1881. He resided in Washington, D.C. from the early 1880s to early 1900s, and boarded with the African American Presbyterian minister Francis Grimké and his brother, lawyer and diplomat Archibald Grimké for several years. In 1914, Venning returned to Philadelphia and lived with his nephew George E. Venning's family who referred to him as "Dah." The family was active in the Philadelphia African American political, social, educational, and cultural community from the 1850s to the 20th century, including the St. Thomas P.E. Church, Church of the Crucifixion, Central Presbyterian Church, the Colored Institute of Youth, and the Citizens Republican Club.
Creator
Venning, Richard DeReef, 1846-1929
Date
[ca. 1865 - ca. 1922]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning Collection [P.2012.37.1]
Photograph album of African American government worker Richard DeReef Venning, a member of the African American middle-class Stevens-Cogdell and Sanders-Venning family, and containing predominantly unidentified portraits of African American and white men, women, and children, including family and friends. Contains bust, half and full-length portraits, often studio portraits. Several of the female sitters wear ornate hairstyles and many sitters also wear crosses. Also contains a carte de visite reproduction of a painted portrait of possibly George Cogdell (p.16) and a carte de visite inscribed “Pete” and “Sam” showing two men in checkered patterned jumper costumes, wigs, hats, and full-face masks (p.18). Identified sitters include Samuel Le Count Cook (p.2, photograph dated 7/4/[18]90 and imprint of DC photographer Rice on verso, ), Edward W. Venning (p.13, photograph dated 1869 and imprint of Philadelphia photographer G.W. Cheston on verso), Sarah Venning (p.13 &14, imprint of Philadelphia photographer Larkin on the verso), Richard DeReef Venning (p.13, photograph dated 12/7/[18]74 on recto and imprint of Philadelphia photographer Henrici & Garns on verso), Sarah Ann Sanders, daughter of Sarah Sanders (p.14, lower right, ca. 1865, inscribed on recto: S.A.S.; imprint of Philadelphia photographer B.F. Reimer and "property of ed. y.v." inscribed on verso), Cordelia Chew Hinkson (p.35), and Cordelia Hinkson Brown as a baby (p.35). Other sitters may possibly be William H. Chew (p.1), Addie Howard (p.3) and George Washington Musgrave (group portrait, p.19)., Album also contains a portrait signed "Ellie" (p. 22, photograph dated 11/16/[1875] and imprint of NY photographer G.H. Johnson on verso) and an unidentified portrait that is likely Cordelia Sanders (Chew) and her sons Richard and Charles Chew (p.15, lower left, imprint of Philadelphia photographer Miles & Foster on verso). Another unidentified portrait is likely Jacob C. White, co-founder of the Pythians, Philadelphia's first African American baseball club (p. 27, upper left, imprint of Philadelphia photographer Gutekunst). Also contained are inserted portraits (rehoused on boards and with album), including one of a Black man inscribed "H.S.S." and Jan. 11/82 on the recto and verso of the mount (L.W. Cook, Boston, photographer) and one of a Black woman inscribed "Respects of Marie" on the verso (J.P. Silver, photographer)., Title supplied by cataloger., Date inferred from content., Contains title page: Album. Page illustrated with ornamental border., Contains several loose portraits., Various photographers, including Philadelphia photographers H. D. Garns & Co., G. W. Chesterton, African American photographer Gallo Cheston, Larkin Gallery, O. B. DeMorat, C. Hagemann & Co., Henrici & Garns, B. F. Reimer, H. D. Garns & Co., Miles & Foster, Broadbent & Phillips, M. S. Hagaman, Lothrop’s Ferrotype Gallery, Germon, J. Fenton, J. P. Silver, Parlor Galleries, as well as Washington, D.C. photographers Kets Kemethy and Rice, Norfolk photographer J. A. Faber, Trenton photographer J. Bainbridge, Charleston photographer Jesse E. Bolles, Boston photographer L. W. Cook, Salem photographer Smith & Bousley, and New York photographer G. H. Johnson., Inscription on front free end paper: R.D. Reef Venning, June 12/84, Washington, D.C., Some of the photographs contain inscriptions, including dates, identifications, and valedictions, on the versos., Label pasted on back cover: No. 464 Gately & Haskell, booksellers, Hoen building, Baltimore, MD., Ca. 1900 pastel portrait of possibly Clara, nurse to children and grandchildren of Sarah Sanders and R. W. Cogdell (P.9367.32, Stevens-Cogdell/ Sanders-Venning Collection) after ca. 1875 tintype photographed by J. Fenton (729 South St., Phila) P.2012.37.1.23b originally inserted in album and housed with album., See 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., See LCP exhibit catalogue: African American Miscellany p. 45., Genealogical charts available at repository., Some photographs dated during conservation treatment in July 2021. Conservation notes in collection research file at repository (Graphic Arts Department)., 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., RVCDC, Description revised 2022., Access points revised 2022., Richard DeReef Venning (1846-1929), born in Philadelphia, was son of seamstress Elizabeth and carpenter Edward W. Venning. Venning worked as a grocer in Philadelphia before being appointed as a clerk to the Eastern Division of the Pension Office in 1881. He resided in Washington, D.C. from the early 1880s to early 1900s, and boarded with the African American Presbyterian minister Francis Grimké and his brother, lawyer and diplomat Archibald Grimké for several years. In 1914, Venning returned to Philadelphia and lived with his nephew George E. Venning's family who referred to him as "Dah." The family was active in the Philadelphia African American political, social, educational, and cultural community from the 1850s to the 20th century, including the St. Thomas P.E. Church, Church of the Crucifixion, Central Presbyterian Church, the Colored Institute of Youth, and the Citizens Republican Club.
Creator
Venning, Richard DeReef, 1846-1929
Date
[ca. 1865 - ca. 1922]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department Stevens-Cogdell/Sanders-Venning Collection [P.2012.37.1]
Two volume set of albums containing predominately cartes de visite photographic portraits of prominent American 19th-century figures in politics, education, and the arts. Portraits depict actors, artists, authors, Congressmen, educators, governors, military leaders, physicians, publishers, religious leaders, social reformers, scientists, and U.S. presidents and their spouses. Includes mostly vignette and bust-length portraits and a small number of full length portraits. Also contains a small number of trimmed portrait engravings, tintypes, and a photo-collage depicting evangelist D. L. Moody with the under photograph copyrighted 1877. Small number of sitters are unidentified., Men sitters include P. T. Barnum; Henry Ward Beecher; John Brown; Ned Buntline; Samuel Clemens; Jefferson Davis; O. S. Fowler; Oliver Wendell Holmes; Abraham Lincoln; Samuel Morse; Thomas Nast; Hiram Powers; Winfield Scott; Gerrit Smith; Cornelius Vanderbilt; John Wanamaker; Brigham Young; Native American chiefs Ouray, Spotted Tail, and Sitting Bull; and African Americans Frederick Douglass and performer "Blind" Tom. Women sitters include presidential spouses Frances Cleveland and Lucretia Garfield; reformers Susan B. Anthony and Victoria Woodhull; authors Louisa May Alcott, Helen Hunt (Jackson), Harriet Beecher Stowe; sculptors Harriet Hosmer and Vinnie Ream; and performers Maria Albani, Charlotte Cushman, and Kate Field., Title from item's cover., Photographers include Mathew Brady, E. & H. T. Anthony; Jeremiah Gurney; and George Kendall Warren., Majority of sitters identified by a manuscript note on the album page or on portrait or an inscribed label., Brown leather bindings with gilt, stamped in gilt on front boards: Volume I: American Celebrities. Vol. I.; Volume II: American Celebrities. Vol. II. Stamped in gilt on spines: Album., Purchase 1985., Description revised 2021., Access points revised 2021., Cataloging funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012., See "American Celebrities Album" item-level records for digital images of all identified individual sitters.
Date
[ca. 1870-ca. 1890]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department albums [P.9100.1 & 2]
Two volume set of albums containing predominately cartes-de-visite photographic portraits of prominent American 19th-century figures in politics, education, and the arts, ca. 1870.
Half-length portrait of Smith, a young African American woman, posed to the left. She looks forward toward the viewer. She wears a plaid-patterned garment, a white, upturned collar, and a bowtie-like ribbon at her neck. Her hair is pulled back and she wears a hair band. Smith, born in Virginia resided in Philadelphia by 1870. Smith was buried at the Harmony Burial Ground, the burial ground of the African Friends to Harmony at 41st and Chestnut Street in West Philadephia. African Friends, founded in 1826, sought to provide a cemetery for low-income African Americans to be interred with dignity and respect. Several of those buried in the cemetery were associated with the Monument Baptist Church or the Mount Pisgah A.M.E. Church. The property was sold in 1910. In 2020, the remains of over 160 burials were transferred to Eden Cemetery., Title from manuscript note on mount., Photographer's imprint printed on verso., Printed on verso: No. [57860]. Duplicated any time if orderd by the original, or by a responsible person., Manuscript note on verso: died March 23d 1878., Partially purchased with funds for the Visual Culture Program., RVCDC
Creator
Reimer, Benjamin F., approximately 1826-1899, photographer
Date
[1876]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cdv portraits - sitter - Smith [P.2023.17.1]
Bust-length portrait of the Philadelphia Quaker orator, lecturer, author, abolitionist, and women's rights activist. Dickinson, wearing her hair tied back with curls around her face and attired in a patterned dress with a white lace collar, a brooch, and drop earrings, faces slightly left., Title from manuscript note on verso., Probably by Philadelphia photographer Peregrine Cooper., Gift of Richard P. Morgan, 1996., 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. 1880]
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Print Department cabinet card portraits - sitter - Dickinson [P.9516.3]
