Hudson Valley African Americans Photograph Album, ca. 1860s-1900s

Summary

Creator:

Anonymous

Abstract:

The Hudson Valley African Americans photograph album contains 25 photographic portraits and 1 silhouette portrait of African Americans in New York State’s Hudson Valley region.

Extent:

25 photographs and 1 silhouette in 1 album

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Bela Kellogg and Jakob Dopp, December 2024

Background

Scope and Content:

The Hudson Valley African Americans photograph album contains 25 photographic portraits and 1 silhouette portrait of African Americans in New York State’s Hudson Valley region.

The album (25.5 x 22 cm) has red and orange velvet covers with silver adornments and clasp while the pages are faux wood boards. Contents include 10 cabinet cards, 5 tintypes, 8 cartes de visite, 1 real photo postcard, 1 snapshot, and 1 silhouette. All or most subjects appear to be African American and include men, women, and children of a variety of ages. The silhouette shows a man in profile wearing a bowler hat smoking a cigar.

Images of particular note include portraits of an older man with a long beard, an older woman wearing black mourning clothing, a younger woman posing next to what appears to be some type of doll or taxidermied animal, a portrait of a woman taken by Pirie MacDonald on pg. 11 (produced at some point prior to MacDonald's decision to exclusively photograph men), and two carte de visite copies of a portrait of a bearded man with lighter skin.

Acquisition Information:

Purchased from White Fox Rare Books and Antiques, April 2024. F-1775 .

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Subjects

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Subjects:

Photographs shelf.
African Americans--New York (State)
Children--New York (State)--1860-1910.
Men--New York (State)--1860-1910.
Mourning clothing & dress--New York (State)--1860-1910.
Older people--New York (State)--1860-1910.
Smoking--New York (State)--1860-1910.
Women--New York (State)--1860-1910.

Formats:

Albumen prints.
Cabinet photographs.
Cartes de visite.
Collodion silver printing-out paper prints.
Gelatin silver prints.
Photograph albums.
Photographic postcards.
Portrait photographs.
Portraits.
Silhouettes.
Snapshots.
Tintypes.

Names:

B.F. Ogden and Sons.
John Sterry & Co.
Wood & Brother (Albany, N.Y.)
Bogardus, A. (Abraham), 1822-1908.
Couchman, E.
Hall, C. H. (Curtis Hitchcock), 1835-1914.
Holmes, B. W.
MacDonald, Pirie, 1867-1942.
Meadler, J. W.
Notman, William.
Pearsall, G. Frank E.
Smith, M. (Photographer)
Wendover, T. Y.

Places:

Hudson River Valley (N.Y. and N.J.)