American Historical Ephemera and Photography, Featuring African Americana

Cabinet card of an African American gentleman. Richmond, VA: Jefferson Fine Art Gallery, operated by James Conway Farley, ca 1895-1906. 3 7/8 x 5 1/2 in. cabinet photograph on cardstock mount (significant toning, few ink marks affecting portrait, wear to mount edges and corners including loss to lower left). Jefferson Gallery imprint on mount recto. Standing portrait of a bearded man wearing a suit and watch chain resting his hand on a wicker chair next to him. 

James Conway Farley (1854-ca 1910) was born to enslaved parents in Prince Edward County, Virginia, from which he eventually moved to Richmond with his mother around 1861. He learned about photography by working in the chemical department at C.R. Rees's company, and from there went to work as an operator at G.W. Davis Photography Gallery, where he stayed for twenty years. He finally opened his own studio in 1895, and both black and white patrons utilized his services. He is listed as being at 523 East Broad Street through 1906, and at 627 East Broad Street in 1907 and 1908. Farley appears as a working photographer in Jersey City in a 1910 census, but this is the last record of him. His work was widely celebrated and showcased at various exhibitions including the World Industry and Cotton Centennial Exposition in New Orleans.

[With:] Cabinet card of a mother and her two young daughters. Toledo, OH: Otis G. Fields, ca 1890. 3 7/8 x 5 1/2 in. cabinet photograph on cardstock mount (toning, soiling throughout, wear with some paper loss to bottom edge; wear to mount edges and corners). Fields' blindstamp to mount recto. Vignetted portrait of a mother with her two young daughters.

Otis G. Fields (b. 1862), the son of another pioneering African American photographer, George B. Fields, worked with his father from 1882-1885, and had his own studio at 419 Summit St. by 1888.