[African American] [Early Photography] This collection of four sepia albumen photographs from the early 1900s-1910s shows a young African American woman caring for a young Caucasian baby. Each measure 5.5" x 6". Even after the emancipation proclamation, due to the lack of educational and occupational freedom and opportunity, many African American women continued to work as nursemaids or 'nannies', mid-wives, and housekeepers for white families. Many of these women were underpaid and expected to work at a minimum of 12 hours a day, or otherwise they worked 24 hours as live in maids. These photos depict this young woman at various time periods with the baby, and two with the family's pet pug. She wears a variety of cotton dresses underneath a white apron and on her head, a white bonnet. Each photo she is either seated on the porch or in the front yard, one photograph shows the mother of the child, she wears a floor length wool coat, a brooch on her collar, and a fashionable cartwheel hat worn by well to do women of the era. The mother is holding the child on a fence post while the nursemaid is holding the family dog on the other. The home seems to be a two story craftsman in a neighborhood with similar homes, in three of the photos there's snow in the background. Though many of these children raised by African American caregivers, the harmful "mammy" stereotype disallowed Black women to have complex lives of their own, oftentimes not having enough time to form their own lives nor raise their own children. These rare and early photographs offer a glimpse into one young woman's story. Some minor edge and corner wear, photographs are crisp and clear, overall very good condition.
