Integrated Graduating Class Early Twentieth Photo
Original Photo
African American Education - Silver gelatin photograph of integrated high school students in graduation caps and gowns holding their diplomas. 13.5 x 11.5 inches. Mounted on photographer's board with small white signature reading "Bussa" across the bottom of the photograph. 3 young men, one of them African American, and four young women pose almost identically, every one looking directly into the camera, cradling their rolled diplomas, the papers tied with satin ribbon. Behind them is a painted forest backdrop. Though the Civil Rights Act of 1876 prohibited discrimination against African Americans in public spaces, Plessy V Ferguson in 1896 made "separate but equal" legal and was applied broadly to school segregation. School segregation was not mandated by the law in Northern cities but most still conformed to discriminatory practices. An integrated graduating class during this period would have been exceptional, made more so by the number of women pictured. A testament to the outliers, no matter how rare. Some staining to the board does not affect the image. Very good condition.Item #18116
Price: $225.00
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