African Americana

4 5/8 x 7 5/8 in. boudoir photograph on cardstock mount featuring three African American women, perhaps sharecroppers, standing outside of a log cabin. Richmond, VA: George S. Cook, n.d. (Toning, Some spotting/soiling to image and mount; corner and edge wear to mount.) Verso with photographers imprint along with list of titles/subjects in his series, "Views of Richmond." Under the subheading "Negro Views," the following subjects are listed: "Dusky Denizens of the Old Dominion in Picturesque Positions. Photographs Illustrating the Tobacco Industry."

George S. Cook (1819-1902) was a pioneering American photographer, who is best known for having captured what are believed to be the first combat photographs during a war, showing ironclads firing on Fort Moultrie. He amassed a large collection of photographs of figures of the Confederacy and the south, including Richmond, VA, where he lived from 1880.

[With:] 7 1/4 x 4 3/8 in. boudoir photograph on cardstock mount featuring four young African American men, possibly formerly enslaved, seated among boxes on the porch of an unknown establishment. Fortress Monroe: William Baulch, n.d. (Toning, some spotting to image and mount; corner and edge wear to mount, including some loss.) Verso with photographer's imprint and manuscript title, "Young Workers." 

Although Virginia joined the Confederacy, Fortress Monroe, located in Hampton, VA, remained in Union hands throughout the Civil War. Under the provision of contraband policies, Fort Monroe gained notoriety as a historic site of freedom for the formerly enslaved. The photographer, William Baulch produced this image as part of a larger series of photographs capturing the fort and its surroundings. Baulch also owned and operated a store in Fort Monroe called the "Newspaper Depot," and presumably, this is where he sold the photographs throughout the 1880s.