Portraying Ourselves: Nineteenth-Century Black Fashion History through Photographs, 1840-1900

The invention of photography at the end of 1839 made it possible for ordinary citizens to obtain their portrait and represent themselves as they wished to be recorded for posterity. African Americans seized this opportunity to capture their appearance at moments of personal importance, carefully choosing their clothing and accessories to display their adoption of the current styles. This lecture will explore what stories the clothing tells about otherwise unidentified portraits in the history of Black engagement with fashion.

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