Snapshots of the Past

[Jack Johnson - behind wheel of auto] – Historic Print

[Jack Johnson - behind wheel of auto] — historic photograph
[Jack Johnson - behind wheel of auto]. Historic photograph from the Automobiles 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: [Jack Johnson - behind wheel of auto], preserved in this historic photograph. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.

Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. A fine choice for anyone who loves history, and a gift that gets noticed. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.

[Jack Johnson - behind wheel of auto]

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Jack Johnson, the heavyweight boxing champion who became the first Black man to hold that title in 1908, is the figure seated at the wheel here. Johnson was a famous sporting celebrity by the time this picture was made around 1910, and he was known for his flashy tastes, including fast cars and expensive clothes that drew public attention and resentment. The photograph captures how automobiles were still a novelty and a status symbol in those years, when owning and driving one signaled wealth and modernity. Johnson's public image, and the controversy surrounding his personal life, made him one of the most talked-about men of his era.

Medium1 photographic print.
Notesc1910.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,092 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-117734

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