Snapshots of the Past

[African American school children facing the Horatio Greenough statue of George Washington at the U.S. Capitol] – Vintage Wall Art

[African American school children facing the Horatio Greenough statue of George Washington at the U.S. Capitol], [1899?] — historic photograph
[African American school children facing the Horatio Greenough statue of George Washington at the U.S. Capitol], [1899?]. Historic photograph from the Washington collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This historic photograph of [African American school children facing the Horatio Greenough statue of George Washington at the U.S. Capitol] brings a moment of history to your wall. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

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[African American school children facing the Horatio Greenough statue of George Washington at the U.S. Capitol]

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Few sights in the capital were as steeped in symbolism as children posed before Horatio Greenough's marble Washington, a seated, toga-draped figure that had stood on the Capitol grounds since the 1840s and was widely mocked for its classical styling. Here the students in their best clothes face the statue, turning a monument to the nation's founder into a backdrop for a generation of Black schoolchildren in Washington. The cyanotype comes from Frances Benjamin Johnston's series of school photographs from around 1899, when she documented the city's public schools, and the album label "Public Schools - 7th Division" ties it to that survey.

Created / published[1899?]
Medium1 photographic print : cyanotype.
GenreCyanotypes 1890-1900.
NotesNo. 355. In album: Public Schools - 7th Division." Forms part of: Frances Benjamin Johnston Collection (Library of Congress)."
SubjectsWashington, George,--1732-1799--Statues--Washington (D.C.) School children--Washington (D.C.)--1890-1900. African Americans--Children--Washington (D.C.)--1890-1900. Children--Clothing & dress--Washington (D.C.)--1890-1900.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,174 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-114907

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