[EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY]. Album containing photos of a multi-generational African American family in Washington, DC. Ca early-to-mid 20th Century.

14 x 11 in. stringbound album containing over 150 photographs chronicling the life of an African American family in Washington, DC. Photographs are mounted recto/verso, ranging in size from 1 x 1 1/2 in. to 10 x 8 in., along with cards, notes, certificates, and other ephemera including a marriage certificate recording the 1910 union of Bernard Dent and Mary Delany in Prince George County, MD, and a 1948 letter from a teacher about a student named Samuel Smith. The African American teacher's photograph is pasted on the letter, and a pair photographs of an African American young man (presumably Samuel Smith) are mounted to the album page on either side of the letter. Another item featured is a 1949 invoice for dance classes for the same young man, Samuel Smith. The instructor has written a note of high praise about Smith. Interestingly, some of the photographs feature painted backgrounds with symbolic Washington DC landmarks depicted including the Capitol Building and the Washington Monument.

Freeman's I Hindman strives to describe historic materials in a manner that is respectful to all communities, providing descriptive contexts for objects where possible. The nature of historical ephemera is such that some material may represent positions, language, values, and stereotypes that are not consistent with the current values and practices at Freeman's I Hindman.

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American Historical Ephemera & Photography, including African Americana

[EARLY PHOTOGRAPHY]. Album containing photos of a multi-generational African American family in Washington, DC. Ca early-to-mid 20th Century.

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