Logo
Logo
a photo of 3 children.

African American Vernacular Photography

07;The Daniel Cowin Collection of African American History was given to ICP by Daniel Cowin in 1990. The collection of about 1,600 photographs, including several albums and dating from 1860 to 1960, offers a glimpse into the rarely seen everyday lives of African Americans in a variety of genres and poses: formal studio portraits, casual snapshots, images of children, images of uniformed soldiers, wedding portraits, and "Southern-views" made for tourist consumption. While some of the sitters are celebrities of the day, the majority are unnamed Americans simply posing for their portraits.
The catalog of the exhibition is available from the ICP Museum Store.
86 Items
  • These children were turned out of the St. Lawrence Hotel, Chestnut St., Philadelphia, on account of Color
  • The Scourged Back
  • [Two Unidentified Men]
  • [General Williams (?) and Servant]
  • Radical Members of the South Carolina Legislature
  • Before the Proclamation and After the Proclamation
  • I Sell the Shadow to Support the Substance. Sojourner Truth
  • Clifton Haries, The West Auburn Murderer
  • 2 Headed Girl, Millie-Crissie
  • [Thomas Wiggins]
  • [Two Unidentified Women]
  • [Unidentified Man and Girl]
  • [Four Unidentified Women]
  • [Group]
  • Green Cove Springs and Clarendon, Fla.
  • Coming from the Well
  • [Cotton pickers]
  • Washerwoman and Family
  • [Wharf Scene, Jacksonville]
  • Sugar Cane
  • Sweeps
  • Oyster Girl & Lightwood Boy
  • Huckleberries
  • Jack and Abby Landlord, aged one hundred and ten years old
  • [Unidentified Family Group]
  • [Unidentified Man and Woman]
  • I Specs Ise Born Tired
  • [Unidentified Boy]
  • Burning of Smith
  • [Henry Smith]
  • [Jeff, George, Oliver, and Lillie Wayes]
  • [Nannie Carrington, Harrison Carrington, Miss Taylor]
  • [Tintype album]
  • [Two Unidentified Women]
  • [Two Unidentified Women]
  • [Unidentified Woman]
  • [Unidentified Woman]
  • [Unidentified Woman]
  • [Two Unidentified Women]
  • [Dollie Pinkston]
  • [Unidentified Man]
  • [Alfred Jackson]
  • [John H. Allen]
  • Booker T. Washington, President of the Negro Industrial School, Tuskegee, Alabama
  • [Emmett J. Scott]
  • A group of tailors at Tuskegee
  • [Family Photo Album]
  • [Calhoun School Album]
  • [Two Unidentified Women]
  • [Two Unidentified Women]
  • [Nora Douglas Holt]
  • [Minnie Brown]
  • [11th Patriarchie Regiment Band, GUOOF]
  • [Four Unidentified Men]
  • [Norfolk Colored Stars]
  • [Group]
  • [Two Unidentified Men]
  • [Mr. Lewis Young of Monroe City]
  • [Jack Johnson and Jess Willard]
  • [River baptism, Citronelle, Alabama]
  • [Unidentified Man with Horse]
  • [Rev. William O. Swint]
  • [Group of Unidentified Soldiers]
  • [Unidentified Man]
  • [Beauticians]
  • [Beautician and Customer]
  • [Group]
  • [Three Unidentified Men]
  • [Unidentified Group]
  • [Unidentified Man on a Motorcycle]
  • [Two Unidentified Men]
  • [Two Unidentified Men]
  • [Two Unidentified Women]
  • [Unidentified Woman]
  • [North Harlem Community Council]
  • First Holy Communion, St. Mark's Church
  • [Five Unidentified Children]
  • [Five Unidentified Men]
  • [Unidentified Man]
  • [Unidentified Woman]
  • [Unidentified Group]
  • [Unidentified Man and Woman]
  • Dress Rehearsal
  • Escape Artist
  • [Unidentified Woman and Man]
  • [Unidentified Woman with Camera]