I Want to Know Everything About These Women in Turn-of-the-Century Atlanta
In DepthThese sharp-dressed ladies are sitting on the steps of a building at Atlanta University, circa 1899. I want to know all their stories, in detail.
This particular photo is the work of Atlanta’s Thomas Askew, who lived from around 1850 to 1914. From the Library of Congress and spotted via the NYU Costume Studies Instagram, it was one of several hundred photos collected by W.E.B. Du Bois for a special showcase of African American life at the Paris Exposition of 1900. As this piece at The Root explains, the photos heavily featured African American professionals and were meant as a challenge to the stereotypes of the era.