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Category: African American History

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

African Americans in the Military: In Pictures

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

Images from the Prints & Photographs Division’s collections help to illustrate the sustained contributions of Black Americans to the United States through military service over the course of the nation’s history. We hope you can join us for one of two “Finding Pictures: African Americans in the Military” webinar sessions this month (details at the …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Discoveries through Pictures: African Americans in the Civil War Era

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

The following is a guest post by Anastasia Sotiropoulos, the Prints & Photographs Division’s Stanford in Government Liljenquist Fellow. I came into my time as the Library’s Prints & Photographs Division Intern unsure of what cartes de visite were, let alone the big stories these tiny 3.5-by-2.5 inch photo cards hold. As I explored the …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Advancing Archives, History and Heritage: Making the Less Visible More Discoverable

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

The following is an interview with Antonio Austin, who has been serving as an Archives, History and Heritage Advanced virtual intern in the Prints & Photographs Division since early February, with a goal of recommending ways to bring historical material to a larger audience in innovative ways. Antonio is working on a PhD in history …

House Black Caucus Shirley Chisholm. Photo by Warren K. Leffler, 1973. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.55931

Shirley Chisholm in Pictures: Unbought and Unbossed

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

Shirley Chisholm laid the groundwork for many who would follow her footsteps into national politics. As an activist who was often in the public eye, she is well represented in Prints & Photographs Division collections. Elected as a Representative for New York’s 12th congressional district in 1968, Chisholm was the first Black woman to serve …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Camilo J. Vergara’s Photographs of African American Communities in America’s Cities

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

My images throughout time give glimpses into poverty, segregation, and perseverance in cities throughout America during the past half century. They are part of an evolving historical record, contributing stories of resilience and pride … Camilo J. Vergara has been photographing low-income, racially segregated neighborhoods in American cities since the 1970s. Earlier this year, the …

Susie King Taylor, known as the first African American Army nurse. Photo, published 1902. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.57593

Susie King Taylor: The Courage of an African American Nurse and Teacher

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

Below is an interview with Elizabeth Lindqwister, the summer 2019 Liljenquist Family Fellow, and Prints & Photographs Division staff members, Karen Chittenden and Micah Messenheimer, about creating a Story Map focusing on the Civil War experience of Susie King Taylor. Many courageous people are pulling double and triple duty in this time of quarantine for …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

African Americans at the Turn of the 20th Century: A Graphic Visualization

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

Visitors to the 1900 Paris Exposition would have had the opportunity to view an extraordinary display of photographs, charts, publications and other items meant to demonstrate the progress and resilience of African Americans in the United States, only a few decades after the abolition of slavery. The materials were assembled by African American intellectuals Thomas J. …