African-American Portraiture

"It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one's soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity."

W. E. B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk

By Will Thomas

During the 19th century, systemic racism influenced the ways in which African Americans were represented in art and illustrations. They were often depicted as nameless slaves or servants and in other ways which were, as Frederick Douglass put it, "made to harmonize with the popular idea of Negro ignorance, degradation and imbecility."

However, Douglass and others realized that photography could also be a powerful tool to help change those ideas. In 1900, civil rights activist and Fisk University graduate W. E. B. Du Bois put together the “Exhibit of American Negroes” at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, France. The exhibit included hundreds of photographs of African Americans - and their homes, schools, businesses, and churches - in order to counter negative stereotypes.

Ellen Gordon and her African-American nurse, ca. 1850s. Carte de Visite Collection.

In Nashville, many of the portraits taken by Calvert Brothers Studio echo the positive portrayal of African Americans informing Du Bois' exhibit. The studio, owned by English immigrants Ebenezer and Peter Ross Calvert, did a fair amount of business with Nashville's African-American community, including many repeat customers, between 1888 and 1903.

While that does not necessarily place the Calverts at the forefront of the civil rights movement (for example, they also did portraits of minstrel show troups), it does suggest that a significant number of African Americans in Nashville felt comfortable doing business with them. The portraits of African Americans were also in no way different from or inferior to (artistically, stylistically, or technically) those produced for their European-American clientele.

By about 1910, it appears that the business the Calverts did with Nashville's African-American community had significantly dropped off. The Nashville Globe, Nashville's African-American newspaper, offers a possible explanation. The Globe heavily encouraged the patronage of African American-owned businesses, and there are several examples from 1907 of the newspaper's promoting African American-owned photography studios.

Newspaper scans, Nashville Globe. Newspaper Microfilm Collection

These are some of the African Americans photographed by the Calverts:

Buck Colbert Franklin (1879-1960)

Buck Colbert Franklin, Nashville, 1901. Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negatives.

Buck Colbert Franklin grew up in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). He began attending Roger Williams University in Nashville and, in 1903, he transferred to Atlanta Baptist College (renamed Morehouse College in 1913). Franklin became a lawyer and opened a law office in Tulsa, Oklahoma, one month before the 1921 race riot. Although his office was destroyed in the riot, he represented African Americans in lawsuits seeking compensation for the destruction of their businesses and property. He was also the father of renowned historian John Hope Franklin.

Dr. David Wellington Byrd (1886-1945)

Dr. David Wellington Byrd, Nashville, 1899. Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negatives.

Dr. David Wellington Byrd was the chair of the literary department at Central Tennessee College (CTC), which was begun by the Freedmen's Aid Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1867. He later received a medical degree from CTC's medical department (which was split off to form Meharry Medical College in 1915). He was also president of the National Medical Association (the national organization for African-American physicians) from 1916 to 1917.

Flossie B. Jackson

Flossie B. Jackson, Nashville, 1899. Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negatives.

In 1900, Flossie B. Jackson graduated from the pharmaceutical department at Central Tennessee College, passed the examinations of the State Board of Pharmacy, and became a registered pharmacist. She was a member of the Tennessee Pharmaceutical Association and worked at Jackson's Drug Store in Memphis, which was owned by her brother, Dr. George R. Jackson.

Willie Cooper

Willie Cooper, Nashville, 1901. Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negatives.

Willie Cooper was a substitute teacher at the Merry School for the 1909-1910 and 1910-1911 school years. The Merry School was an African-American elementary school located on Springhead Street (now Andrew T. Whitmore Street), southeast of Nashville City Cemetery.

Henry Allen Boyd (1876-1959)

Henry Allen Boyd (seated on the left) and family members, Nashville, 1899. Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negatives.

Henry Allen Boyd was a founder and editor of the Nashville Globe. He became the manager of the National Baptist Publishing Board upon the death of his father, Rev. Richard Henry Boyd, in 1922. He also produced the National Jubilee Melody Song Book, one of the first hymnals that set 19th century slave spirituals to musical notation. Boyd's sister, Lula, was also a classmate and close friend of B. C. Franklin at Roger Williams University.

Dr. Robert Fulton Boyd (1855-1912)

Four African-American children photographed for Dr. Robert Fulton Boyd, Nashville, 1899. Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negatives.

Dr. Robert Fulton Boyd was born in Giles County. He graduated with honors from the medical department at Central Tennessee College in 1882. He received his degree in dentistry from there in 1887 and opened his medical practice in Nashville that same year. He rose to national prominence and became the first president of the National Medical Association.

Benjamin ("Ben") J. Carr (ca. 1875-1935)

Benjamin J. Carr, Nashville, 1899. Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negatives.

Benjamin ("Ben") J. Carr was the porter for the Tennessee Senate and Supreme Court from about 1890 to 1910. He was responsible for establishing Hadley Park, involved in the founding of Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College (now Tennessee State University), the president of the Negro Farmers Alliance in Tennessee, and, in his final years, a realtor.


A free exhibit, titled "Tennesseans Through the Lens: Portrait Photography in Tennessee," featuring these and other images, opened in May in the lobby of the Library & Archives building. Information about this exhibit can be found at: http://tslablog.blogspot.com/2016/05/free-exhibit-showcasing-historic.html.

You may also view other images from the Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negatives Collection on the Tennessee Virtual Archive (TeVA) at http://teva.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/landingpage/collection/p15138coll24 at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

Free Exhibit Showcasing Historic Photographs Opens at Library & Archives

As the saying goes, a picture can be worth a thousand words. That's especially true in historical research, where old portrait photographs can tell us about the mannerisms, clothing, hairstyles and even cultural norms of people who lived decades ago. That's one of the reasons why the Tennessee State Library & Archives has opened a new exhibit showcasing some of the thousands of photographic portraits it has collected on behalf of the state's residents.

The free exhibit, titled "Tennesseans Through the Lens: Portrait Photography in Tennessee," opens this week in the lobby of the Library & Archives building. The exhibit will be available for viewing anytime during the Library & Archives' normal operating hours, which are from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays.

The exhibit offers insights into the history of studio photography in Tennessee and how changes in that technology affected the lives of the state's residents. Some of the images date back to the 1860s, when daguerreotype was the cutting edge technology in photography. Daguerreotype captured images on silver-plated copper surfaces.

Henry Allen Boyd and family posing for a portrait at Nashville's Calvert Brothers Studio.
Image credit: Tennessee State Library & Archives

"This is an exciting new exhibit for the Library & Archives," Secretary of State Tre Hargett said. "Many people think of the Library & Archives only as a place to study documents and maps, but we also have a stunning collection of more than one million photographs, many of them portraits of famous and not-so-famous Tennesseans. I encourage people to visit the Library & Archives to see the portraits we have available."

The exhibit features photos from several of the Library & Archives' collections, including the Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negatives, the Library Photograph Collection, Looking Back at Tennessee, the Tennessee Historical Society Picture Collection, the Carte de Visite Collection and the Cabinet Card Collection.

The Library & Archives building is located at 403 Seventh Avenue North, just west of the Tennessee State Capitol in downtown Nashville. A limited amount of free parking is available around the building.

The exhibit will remain on display until August.

The Tennessee State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

Discovered in the Archives... from the Calvert Brothers Studio

Some days as a historian and archivist are good days...and some days are not so great. I recently had one of those really great days.

TSLA has a collection of approximately 10,000 glass plate negatives (more than 3,000 of which have been scanned) from one of Nashville's prominent photography studios, the Calvert Brothers Studio. The collection is in the midst of being processed and I have been compiling an inventory of the negatives in order to help organize the collection. On a recent morning, I came across a striking image of an African-American man while working on the inventory and I wanted to find out more about him.

Glass plate negative of Calvert negative # 19385, Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negative Collection

I began with the only concrete information I had: the negative number etched by the studio into the emulsion of the negative. This negative had the number 19385. TSLA has one of the studio's daybooks (its listing of negative numbers arranged alphabetically by the last name of the person making the appointment). Our staff and volunteers have been creating a database of the entries in the daybooks.

Negative # 19385 scratched into the emulsion of the negative by the studio, Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negative Collection

Searching the database for negative 19385, I found the corresponding entry with the name "B. C. Franklin" from 1901. The historical note in the database entry noted that Buck C. Franklin was enrolled at Roger Williams University (a historically black college in Nashville). Knowing that the name in the daybook is the name of the person who scheduled the appointment and not necessarily the person in the photograph, I decided to see what I could find about Buck C. Franklin on the Internet.

Buck C. Franklin, Nashville, Tennessee, 1901, Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negative Collection

Page from the studio's daybook with the entry for B. C. Franklin highlighted ("col" is short for "colored" and "cab" is the abbreviation for cabinet card, in other words, the specific type of print that was ordered), Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negative Collection

I discovered that Buck Colbert Franklin (1879-1960) went on to become a lawyer after graduating from Roger Williams University. He moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, just prior to the Tulsa race riot of 1921 and his law office was destroyed in the riot. He then represented African-American residents in lawsuits seeking compensation for the destruction of their businesses and property in the riot. I also came across this photograph [http://exhibits.library.duke.edu/items/show/22255] of him taken just after the riot, which is pretty convincing evidence that the man in the negative is indeed Buck C. Franklin.

Franklin was also the father of renowned historian John Hope Franklin [http://www.jhfcenter.org/john-hope-franklin/], who received his bachelor's degree from Fisk University in Nashville.

Then, a further search in the Calvert daybook turned up more entries for Buck Franklin. The entry for negative number 12481, taken in 1899, was under the name "B. Franklin." Comparing that image to this image on the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian website [http://americanindian.si.edu/exhibitions/indivisible/slavery.html], it is clear that the two photographs are of the same person. Coincidentally, a year and a half ago I had selected the 1899 image of Buck Franklin to use on the introduction panel of TSLA's exhibit about Tennessee's 19th Century African-American legislators (although the image did not make it onto the final version of the panel).

Buck C. Franklin, Nashville, Tennessee, 1899, Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negatives Collection

A third entry (negative number 50906) is under the name "Buck Franklin." However, I have not been able to determine if this negative is a photograph of the same Buck Franklin. The negative, if it still exists, is in the as-yet-uninventoried portion of the collection, and trying to find it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. And there are a couple of points that cast doubt on the possibility of that negative being of the same Buck Franklin. First, the photograph was taken in 1890, when Buck was just 11 years old. Since the names in the daybook are the names of the individuals who made the appointments, it seems highly improbable that an 11-year-old made an appointment to get his picture taken. Second, while he was named after his grandfather, he noted in his autobiography that his grandfather died before he was born, so the entry cannot be from his grandfather.

But the story of Buck Franklin is not the only one awaiting discovery among the negatives in the Calvert Brothers Studio Glass Plate Negative Collection. For example, according to the daybook, there are supposed to be a couple of negatives of John Hope. He was a classics professor at Roger Williams University, later president of Morehouse College, active in the NAACP, and the namesake of John Hope Franklin. And the hunt continues...



Will M. Thomas, Archivist for TSLA's Archival Technical Services, contributed this first-person account of his research for the TSLA Blog. Will's past processing projects include the Puryear Family Photograph Albums, James Earl Ray Inmate Records, and Colonel Harry E. Dudley Papers. Will is also a staff photographer for the State Library and Archives Looking Back: The Civil War in Tennessee digitization project.

Will would also like to acknowledge Kathy Lauder, retired archivist and volunteer for the Tennessee State Library and Archives, for her work on entering the Calvert daybook into the database. Kathy's work proved instrumental in helping Will discover the Buck Franklin photo. 

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State

A tip of the hat to the spring season

Spring is finally upon us. It is a season that brings with it the promise of renewal. The Christian holiday of Easter is right around the corner, and with it comes the tradition of celebrating new life and rebirth with new clothing. For ladies, the Easter bonnet, often elaborate and adorned with flowers and leaves, has come to symbolize the cycle of the seasons and the coming of spring.

Although Easter bonnets are not seen as frequently as they once were, here at the Tennessee State Library and Archives there are several portraits held in our collections that bring back those fond memories. In this blog post we not only wanted to pay tribute to those spring days gone by, but also recognize the work of one of Nashville’s most well-known photography studios.

Amber Barfield Gilmer, a former conservator for the Tennessee State Library and Archives, wrote about the Calvert Brothers & Taylor photography studio in an article published in the June 2006 edition of the Nashville Historical Newsletter. In it she wrote, “During their era, the Calvert brothers helped shape the way many Nashvillians would remember their children, their weddings, their homes, and their friends. In addition, the Calverts were often commissioned to copy pre-existing photographs, and many of the resulting copy negatives are today among the most historically valuable negatives at the Tennessee State Library and Archives.”

So as our minds turn to spring and all things new, we take a fond look to the past in this photo tribute to the Easter bonnet, and the Calvert Brothers’ Photo Collection…

Miss Ruth Boice is wearing a white formal dress with a large hat, possibly bridal attire, in this 1899 photo.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

In this image, dated 1900, Margaret Kercheval is wearing a hat with feathers protruding in a curious manner. A hat with feathers that resemble horns is perhaps not the best attire for an Easter Sunday.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Martha Armstrong strikes a beautiful pose wearing a large feather hat and an off-the-shoulder dress in this 1898 photo.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Mayme Conditt flashes a Mona Lisa smile while wearing this interesting hat and fur capelet in this 1899 photo.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

In what may be the winner for most unique nickname in this group of photos, Miss "Toots" Fitzhugh is wearing an elaborate floral and feather hat for this 1899 photo.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Mary C. Harris poses in a white dress with an elaborate flowered hat and flower sash across one shoulder in this 1900 photo.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Ladies were not the only ones wearing hats at this time of the year. Gentlemen were also expected to dress for the occasion, as witnessed by this image of a young couple. Mr. J.G. Martin is standing holding a straw boater hat, and his wife is seated in front of him wearing a large picture hat with flowers in this 1898 photo.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

In this 1899 photo, Ruth McAllister is wearing a dark dress and very large hat trimmed in ostrich feathers and a jeweled pin. Dark clothing was not typical of Easter attire, but this dress and accompanying hat still make for a striking picture.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Miss Annie O'Connor gazes into the distance wearing a light-colored dress and beautiful multi-layered hat in this 1900 photo.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Jessie Gribble is the picture of spring, wearing a white dress and lace hat in this 1900 photo.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Another lady and her gent posing for a portrait in this 1898 photo. This young man and woman are posed in formal attire, he holding his hat, she wearing an elaborate hat and holding a parasol.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

Nannie Yates is wearing an ornate feathered hat and a light colored dress in this 1898 photo.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

In 1898, Miss Kate Ransom wore a hat of roses for this photo.
Library Collection. Tennessee State Library and Archives.

You can view more images like these by browsing the Tennessee State Library and Archives Photo Database, located on the TSLA website.

Please note that reproduction of these images should include the credit line: "Reproduced courtesy of the Tennessee State Library and Archives."

The State Library and Archives is a division of the Tennessee Department of State and Tre Hargett, Secretary of State.