Black like we
Egret plume in her hair, the lady is the picture of elegant sophistication, a Gibson Girl in sepia. Her hair piled high upon her head, she wears earrings, choker, and brooch. She faces slightly to the right, her head cocked. She’s not really smiling. Rather, her look is dignified. This portrait of a fashionable young black woman is among 363 photographs of African-Americans that were included in an “American Negro” exhibit that sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois helped organize for the Paris World’s Fair of 1900. 'The Paris Albums' W.E.B. Du Bois and Thomas J Calloway assembled 363 photographs for the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. Photos courtesy of the Prints & Photographs Division/Library of Congress The portraits provide an extraordinary insight into the conditions of black culture at the end of the 19th century, only 35 years after the abolition of slavery. Sitters were presented unidentified and photographers unnamed; a typical caption would...