These photos, taken by Thomas Askew, were collected by W.E.B. DuBois and shown in his “Negro Exhibit” at the Paris Exhibition of 1900 to demonstrate middle-class African-American life in America. Askew photographed many of his scenes in Atlanta because that was where black middle-class life could be had. DuBois wanted to show progress, education, and prosperity – the lives of the “talented tenth” – in the African-American community, not the suffering and tribulation that was typically the focus of national and international attention on his race. Read DuBois’ description/review of the show, “An American Negro in Paris,” in The American Monthly Review of Reviews.
But on a lighter note – watch your step for some serious fashion!!
Atlanta University
Home of an African American lawyer
Atlanta University
The following portraits don’t really fit with the “style on the stairs” theme we set out to illustrate, but whatever – the poses are still so good! How MARITIME REALNESS is that second girl down? And why can’t we find the Summit Avenue Ensemble’s MySpace page, hmmm? Can Dust-to-Digital please track down a recording?
Summit Avenue Ensemble
Mamie Westmorland, school teacher
Here’s a photo of the actual exhibit in Paris.
via University of Michigan
All photos by Thomas Askew, 1899 or 1900. From album Negro life in Georgia, U.S.A., compiled and prepared by W.E.B. Du Bois. Via the Library of Congress. (If you’re really excited, there’s also a book on this famous collection – Photography on the Color Line by Shawn Michelle Smith.)
Tags: thomas askew, w.e.b. dubois
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