Photos of women of color, especially during the Victorian era, are hard to come by. But thanks to this collection, dating from 1860 to 1901, we now have the chance to see some of their portraits. Some of these were taken when there was still slavery in the United States. Unfortunately, many of these photos are unnamed, which make us wonder who these women were, what they were like, and what their stories were. We’ll probably never know. Nevertheless, here's a collection of 51 wonderful portraits of young Victorian women of color.
Portraits of African Americans from the Alvan S. Harper Collection (1884-1910) Source: State Library and Archives of Florida Photographic Collection. Copyright: No Known Copyright Restrictions (?) In the last decades of the 19th Century, white Southern society began to pass laws to reverse the gains African Americans made during Reconstruction. By 1900, the Age of Jim Crow (legal segregation) was in full swing. Yet as these images taken by Tallahassee photographer Alvan S. Harper reveal, many African Americans were able to prosper despite the social and legal restrictions they faced. Although unidentified today, these images represent the teachers, business owners, and local leaders of Tallahassee’s vibrant African American community. For more on African American experience and achievements in the U.S. and elsewhere visit Discover Black Heritage , a travel guide to black history and culture.
Welcome to Black Victoria! A portion of your cost is being donated to The Our Time Has Come Scholarship Fund for Latino and African American students. Black Victoria curates collectibles and four categories of photographic imagery: modern retro antique altered mixed media/collaged/illustrated (created by Debora Grace) Black Victorian - Portrait of a Young Woman is one of my shop's antique images. 1638x2137 pixels. In its antiquity, as it is not as crisp as a new, modern photo, it reproduces well for small wall and desk or tabletop photos. When you go to print it, it may show as an 5x7 photo, but as long as you know how to adjust your printer settings, you can choose to print it thus or decrease its size. Not run of the mill and perfect for home, office, studio and shop; for personal use or gifts. Beautiful print for mounting on foam core for framed or frameless posters, or to display in frames. Affordably available through digital download. FULL PORTRAIT or CROPPED? SPECIFY your preference in MESSAGE to shop owner, Debora-Grace. If you do not specify, I will choose. All sales are final since this is a digital transaction. If you've stopped here, chances are you'll like one of my other shops. Take a moment to visit: Etsy.com/shop/PlymouthFury.
Look at some of the loveliest old Victorian hairstyles for women, from back when they were called coiffures, and when getting the perfectly elegant look took hours to manage.
This striking woman wearing an American flag, one supposes in support of Union Troops is also dressed as neatly as a pin, ' precise as a pin ' Nana...
This "Black America" set only scratches the surface of a larger body of material that is scattered among other collections of early photography. For those wanting to see more (without leaving flickr), I recommend the many excellent sets posted by Omega418. Please check them out here : www.flickr.com/photos/22067139@N05/sets/ Other Groups/Pools of interest : www.flickr.com/groups/72822081@N00/pool/ www.flickr.com/groups/69668528@N00/pool/ www.flickr.com/groups/20th_century_black_history/pool/ On the outside chance that it might matter to someone viewing these photos, I'm as "White" as they come (Irish-English-German-Abenaki) ********************************************* "SLAVERY SUCKS" --- How's that for a scholarly assessment couched in diplomatic terms ? Yes, I knew you would approve. While the diabolical culture of FOOT BINDING was limited to one people (the Han Chinese) for 1000 years --- and done only in the name of misguided human proclivities --- the religiously endorsed practice of HUMAN SLAVERY, and the abject diabolical evils attached to it has --- in the name of GOD --- been practiced by MANY nations around the world for a much longer time... no doubt, from the dawn of time. As an American, I am personally ashamed and embarrassed that my own country (including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson) stooped LOWER THAN THE CHINESE in their national, living endorsement of holding Slaves --- essentially putting a seal of approval on JEWISH, CHRISTIAN, and MUSLIM scriptural interpretations that were (and still are in some places) PRO-SLAVERY. What ? Would I condemn a "time honored culture" of my own country ? You're damn right ! FOR THE SAKE OF BALANCE... Those reading this already know that many "Christian" nations indulged in (or remained silent about) the abominable practice of buying, selling, and enslaving of human beings since the Church began over 2000 years ago. The BIBLE itself --- especially the “Old Testament” --- laid down clear laws describing when and how humans may be owned and enslaved. In America, the Bible was the main defense for the continued enslavement of Africans. The Christian New Testament tried to deal with the matter, but at the very best, did not condemn the practice. One of many examples is where Paul gave his opinion that [and I paraphrase], freedom is better than Slavery, but if you are a Slave, and your owners won’t set you free, then be a good slave. Paul also remarked in his letter to Titus, “…Tell slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity, so that in everything they may be an ornament to the doctrine of God our Savior...." Titus 2:9-10 Further, adding action to his words, Paul had a runaway Slave returned to his owner, in opposition to Mosaic Law that said he should have remained free. ["If a Slave has taken refuge with you, do not turn him over to his Master. Let him live among you wherever he likes, and in whatever town he chooses. Do not oppress him". Deut 23:15-16] Not surprisingly, as with any position having to do with anything from slavery to abortion to pork chops, the Bible is filled with verses that support either side of most any argument you can come up with. America’s “Christian Slave Holders” clung to and loved any Bible verses that endorsed or excused human bondage, while the Abolitionists held high the scriptures that endorsed liberty for all, and the equality of all human beings before the face of God. In any case, JEWS, CHRISTIANS, and MUSLIMS have enough "Holy Scriptures" in their pocket to effectively make God both the author and CEO of "Slavery Incorporated". And when "God" gets involved in a nation's life and culture, nothing short of all out WAR can effectively change things. AN OVERVIEW OF THE SUBJECT : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_views_on_slavery www.religioustolerance.org/sla_bibl.htm In light of this, a good case can be made that says it was the forces of “Secular Humanism” that brought America into its own civil war over the matter, effectively ending the Slave trade (but not racial prejudice) in America --- even today, the United States continues down the long, unfinished road to recognizing the human rights of American citizens under the “All men are created equal” clause of its Declaration of Independence. SLAVERY IN THE WORLD OF ISLAM White America's past and present problems are generally well known on these subjects, and the Album of BLACK AMERICA photos posted here is yet another public display that focuses solely on the American experience with human trafficking of Africans for the purpose of Slavery. Yet, it is hardly mentioned in the "politically correct" West (whose mavens of "moral relativity" love kissing up to other cultures, regardless of how depraved they are) that the "ARAB-MUSLIM" nations have also carried on the same abductions and slave trading in the name of ALLAH since the beginning of their own religious establishment. Like the BIBLE, the KORAN is also a bastion of defense for the practice of Slavery, and Slavery is still practiced in several Islamic dominated societies even today. The links below talk about things not so well known (or discussed) in the "politically correct" West, and are added here to advance a broader discussion of SLAVERY and its presence in the world. www.liveleak.com/view?i=77f_1315926920 www.liveleak.com/view?i=7e0_1300060211 www.liveleak.com/view?i=580_1295434501 ********************************************* Flickr member B.Alan Adersen's comment inspires me to add the below extract from the Wikipedia. It is a good picture of the "two minds" held by the man who drafted the Declaration of Independence. THOMAS JEFFERSON and SLAVERY ".......Jefferson owned many slaves over his lifetime. Some find it baffling that Thomas Jefferson owned slaves yet was outspoken in saying that slavery was immoral and it should be abolished. Biographers point out that Jefferson was deeply in debt and had encumbered his slaves by notes and mortgages; he chose not to free them until he finally was debt-free, which he never was. Jefferson seems to have suffered pangs and trials of conscience as a result. He wrote about slavery, "We have the wolf by the ears; and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other." During his long career in public office, Jefferson attempted numerous times to abolish or limit the advance of slavery. According to a biographer, Jefferson "believed that it was the responsibility of the state and society to free all slaves." In 1769, as a member of the House of Burgesses, Jefferson proposed for that body to emancipate slaves in Virginia, but he was unsuccessful. In his first draft of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson condemned the British crown for sponsoring the importation of slavery to the colonies, charging that the crown "has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere." However, this language was dropped from the Declaration at the request of delegates from South Carolina and Georgia. In 1778, the legislature passed a bill he proposed to ban further importation of slaves into Virginia; although this did not bring complete emancipation, in his words, it "stopped the increase of the evil by importation, leaving to future efforts its final eradication." In 1784, Jefferson's draft of what became the Northwest Ordinance stipulated that "there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude" in any of the new states admitted to the Union from the Northwest Territory. In 1807, he signed a bill abolishing the slave trade. Jefferson attacked the institution of slavery in his Notes on the State of Virginia (1784): “ There must doubtless be an unhappy influence on the manners of our people produced by the existence of slavery among us. The whole commerce between master and slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submissions on the other". In this same work, Jefferson advanced his suspicion that black people were inferior to white people "in the endowments both of body and mind." However, Jefferson did also write in this same work that a black person could have the right to live free in any country where people judge them by their nature and not as just being good for labor as well. He also wrote, "Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. [But] the two races...cannot live in the same government. Nature, habit, opinion has drawn indelible lines of distinction between them....." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson There is also this.... "ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL" Since 1776, no words in the Declaration of Independence have received more attention than Jefferson's phrase, "All men are created equal." But how could Jefferson and the other signers of the declaration believe this when slavery existed in the colonies? Some slave owners argued that slaves would become equal and worthy of natural rights only when they became civilized. For Jefferson, a life-long owner of slaves, this was a much more complex issue. At an early age, Jefferson concluded that slavery was wrong. To his credit, he attempted to denounce slavery, or at least the slave trade, in the Declaration of Independence. Some scholars believe that Jefferson agreed with the Scottish philosopher, Francis Hutcheson, that all men are born morally equal to one another and that "Nature makes none masters, none slaves." But, how does this explain that Jefferson kept most of his slaves throughout his lifetime? It appears that while Jefferson opposed slavery in principle, he saw no obvious way to end it once it became established. If the slaves were freed all at once, Jefferson feared that white prejudice and black bitterness would result in a war of extermination that the whites would win. He fretted that if slaves were individually emancipated they would have nowhere to go and no means to survive on their own. Of course, Jefferson along with most other Southern plantation owners were also economically dependent on slave labor. The best Jefferson could come up with was a plan to take slave children from their parents and put them in schools to be educated and taught a trade at public expense. Upon becoming adults, they would be transported to a colony somewhere and given tools and work animals to start a new life as a "free and independent people." Nothing ever came of Jefferson's fanciful plan. Slavery in the new United States of America would last another 89 years until the end of the Civil War. But even then, the equality promised in the Declaration of Independence was denied not only to African Americans, but also to other minorities and women. Even today, Americans are still not certain what equality means in such areas as affirmative action, sex discrimination, and gay rights....." www.crf-usa.org/Foundation_docs/Foundation_lesson_declara... REASONS FOR THE CIVIL WAR " www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/07/...
Look at some of the loveliest old Victorian hairstyles for women, from back when they were called coiffures, and when getting the perfectly elegant look took hours to manage.
#Repost @nmaahc with @repostapp ・・・ African American women have made tremendous contributions toward the freedom, equality and thriving culture of African American communities. However, these stories...
Tubman was the fifth of nine children born enslaved to Harriet “Rit” Green and Benjamin “Ben” Ross in Dorchester County, Md. She rescued her parents and some of her siblings,
1880's woman having a really bad hair day by Chas Eisenmann, 229 Bowery, New York.
The Preller Collection comes to the Historic Arkansas Museum.
Look at some of the loveliest old Victorian hairstyles for women, from back when they were called coiffures, and when getting the perfectly elegant look took hours to manage.
In the auction catalog, the description of the postcards sounded like photos out of the book “Crowns,” about black women and their hats. But these were from 1900-1930, and I wanted them.
Earlier, this year we shared 10 stunning photos of black women in the Victorian era. However, we were not prepared to uncover almost 40 additional portraits of black women from that time period. Many
Victorian hairstyles spanned the 1840s to 1890s. Each decade had a certain style for the wealthy classes involving hair parts, braids+, rolls, buns, and decorative accessories. Victorian hair after the 1850s was an elaborate arrangement of real and fake hair, requiring the assistance of a lady's maid or female family member. The following is a
These portraits of black Americans were done by Joseph Pennell. Double Portrait of Ellen Marks, 1899 Double portrait of Ph...
Look at some of the loveliest old Victorian hairstyles for women, from back when they were called coiffures, and when getting the perfectly elegant look took hours to manage.
Look at some of the loveliest old Victorian hairstyles for women, from back when they were called coiffures, and when getting the perfectly elegant look took hours to manage.
Victorian hairstyles spanned the 1840s to 1890s. Each decade had a certain style for the wealthy classes involving hair parts, braids+, rolls, buns, and decorative accessories. Victorian hair after the 1850s was an elaborate arrangement of real and fake hair, requiring the assistance of a lady's maid or female family member. The following is a
