Today we’re looking at an issue of The Southern Workman, a monthly journal published from 1812–1939 by Virginia’s Hampton Institute Press. Founded shortly after the Civil War as the Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, the Hampton Institute trained Black and Indigenous students to become teachers and community leaders, as well as offering vocational skills that would enable them to support themselves in the impoverished South. One of their most famous alumni was Booker T. Washington, who returned to teach at the school before moving on to the Tuskegee Institute. Interest in Black history-related books and ephemera is growing, and items like this—undervalued for too long—are waiting to be archived, studied, and discovered by collectors.
Brattlecast #167 - Historic Photo Albums
Today we’re talking about another surprising Brattle find: a fairly nondescript album that turned out to contain photos of prominent 1800s abolitionists. The collection includes small, sepia-toned portraits of Charles Sumner, Phillips Brooks, and even Sojourner Truth. We’ll also discuss other historical photos that have arrived at the shop, and the way that studio photography democratized image-making during the Civil War era, offering life-like portraits for a fraction of the cost of a commissioned painting. It all comes into focus on a flashy new #brattlecast.