Lost and Found Again: Photos of African-Americans on the Plains, Nebraska

John Johnson stood in a self-portrait—possibly a wedding portrait—with his wife, Odessa. (John Johnson / Courtesy Douglas Keister / NMAAHC, SI)

Lost and Found Again: Photos of African-Americans on the Plains, Nebraska


Douglas Keister, bought a box of glass negatives that featured portraits of the city’s small African-American population from the 1910s and ’20s, an era from which few other photos survived. As Keister and Zimmer scrutinized the portraits, they began to see something else emerge: an untold story of what historians call the new negro movement. Following World War I, African-American writers, musicians, artists and academics across the country sought to promote confidence, dignity and self-expression—a movement that would blossom into the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson’s portraits, they realized, were part of the same intellectual current. His subjects were formally posed and dressed in their best, and they often held books to show that they were educated. “Up until then, many photos of African-Americans showed the plight of the poor,” Keister says. “These photos are elevating. They’re ennoblin

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Medieval Torture for the unfaithful,

10 REASONS NOT TO DATE AN OLDER WOMAN.

Breaking out of Black and White Having the ability to quickly react to any given scenario with a yay or nay response can be quite useful in every day life.

have slept with over 700 men - 22yr old Ghanaian lady.

Why Onitsha Has No Omu

The way Geologists determine the difference between Clay/Mud.

HOW THE APOSTLES DIED.

the Chippewa Flowage.

The last American slave ship docked

The Vasa, a heavily armed Swedish warship