Meet Gertrude Sayen, a female photographer from Philadelphia, and currently highlighted in the podcast, Photographs, Pistols & Parasols. Hosted by Lee McIntyre and featuring our own Curator of Prints & Photographs, Sarah Weatherwax the podcast will highlight Sayen’s professional work and family life over two episodes. You can listen to first episode now on all the major providers including Spotify, iTunes, Apple Podcast. 

[Portrait photograph albums of Betty Ann Hunt, 1920, 1925, and 1929] Gertrude Saÿen photographs, [1920-1925]. 15 photographs in 3 albums :  gelatin silver ;  albums 31 x 26 cm (12.25 x 10.25 in.)

Today is the #SummerSolstice, so it’s time to start wearing your best #SummerFashion! For inspiration we’re looking at this circa 1867 hand-colored lithograph, which features looks for both indoor and outdoor events. Time to dust off those summer top hats!

#FashionFriday #HatsintheLibrary

Louis Haugg. Philadelphia Paris & New York fashions for spring & summer of 1867. Philadelphia: F. Mahan. c1867.           

Today is Juneteenth, the anniversary of the end of slavery. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1862, slavery effectively continued until the end of the Civil War in 1865. To commemorate we wanted to highlight a group portrait of the first African American senator and representatives, which currently on display in our exhibition, From Negro Pasts to Afro-Futures: Black Creative Re-Imaginings.

Currier & Ives, The First Colored Senator and Representatives (New York, 1872). Lithograph.

These seven individuals embodied Black politics during the Reconstruction Era. While serving in their respective positions, these politicians advocated for public school education, universal suffrage, war amnesty, funding national infrastructure, labor rights, and civil rights.

Mt. Dawson, B.C., from Asulkan Pass, July 4, 1900.

Mary M. Vaux and two Swiss guides are seen here in front of Mt. Dawson. This Selkirk Range mountain, 11,220 feet high, was named for George M. Dawson, head of the Geological Survey of Canada. 

From the Vaux Photography Collection, Rocky Mountain Series. 

John Sartain, Cinque: The Chief of the Amistad (Philadelphia, 1841). Mezzotint.  Painted by Nathaniel Jocelyn; engraved by J. Sartain.

This engraving depicts Joseph Cinque, the leader of the Amistad uprising, standing against a lush African landscape. The toga and walking cane in his hand imbue Cinque and the scene with an air of stateliness and power that was unusual in contemporary depictions of Africans in the U.S. This allusion to a regal and empowered Cinque functions as a reclamation of the African Diaspora’s past and future

From Negro Pasts to Afro-Futures : Black Creative Re-Imaginings on display now through October 18, 2019. 

#TFW your body is at work but your mind is at the beach…

Marriott C. Morris captured this image of his daughter, Janet, while staying at the Morris family beach home in Sea Girt, NJ in June, 1912. #MorrisMonday

Marriott Canby Morris. Janet playing with sand box, S[ea] G[irt] [graphic]. 1 photograph: film negative; 5.75 x 3.5 in. June 23, 1912    

This watercolor of a crowned heron showing an African village in the background is part of our Fraktur collection. Fraktur is normally associated with calligraphy, but illustrations from the collection are beautiful examples of folk art.

Ein gevisonter fischreiger von Africa [graphic]. A crowned heron from Africa. 1817. 1 drawing: ink and watercolor; 28 x 23 cm. (11 x 8.5 in.)

Happy 200th Birthday to the celebrated poet, essayist, and journalist (also Philadelphia area local), Walt Whitman!

Walt Whitman, 1819-1892 [graphic]. ca. 1870 1 photographic print : albumen on carte de visite mount ; 4 x 2.5 in. (10 x 6 cm.) [from the American Celebrities Album]

#TBT to Broad Street, Philadelphia in May of 1917, less than a block from the Library Company’s current location on Locust Street. The city doesn’t look too different from this vantage point today, except the cars and that the top of City Hall tower is actually lighter than the rest of the building (after a good cleaning of course).

Rau, William Herman, 1855-1920, photographer. Broad St. looking North from Locust St., Flag Day, May 9, 1917. 1 photograph: gelatin silver (8 X 10 in.)

This trade card advertising West End Clothing House certainly gives us the #MayFlowers (and slightly surreal) feels. 

Compliments of the West End Clothing House, 1634 Market Street, Philadelphia. J. Kuh; prop'r. [graphic]. [Philadelphia?] [ca. 1885]