Snapshots of the Past

[African Americans working, Charleston, S.C.: Street venders] – Vintage Photo Print

[African Americans working, Charleston, S.C.: Street venders], c1879. — historic photograph
[African Americans working, Charleston, S.C.: Street venders], c1879.. Historic photograph from the Charleston 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

A window into the past: [African Americans working, Charleston, S.C.: Street venders], preserved in this historic photograph. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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[African Americans working, Charleston, S.C.: Street venders]

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Street vendors working the sidewalks of Charleston, South Carolina, are the subject of this stereograph, a card meant to be viewed through a stereoscope so the street appears to stand in three dimensions. Made around 1879, a few years after federal troops left the state and Reconstruction ended there, it records everyday commerce in a city where Black residents made up a large share of the population and many worked in street trades. Stereo cards like this were sold widely, so the scene reached viewers far from the South, and its title places the workers at the center rather than treating them as background. The goods, the crowd, and the depth of the card that draws the eye into the street are all worth a closer look.

Created / publishedc1879.
Medium1 photographic print on stereo card : stereograph.
SubjectsCity & town life--South Carolina--Charleston--1870-1880. African Americans--South Carolina--Charleston--1870-1880.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan4,203 × 5,191 px · prints to 14 × 17 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-141997

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