Scrapbook and Photo Album Of Unidentified Black Family, Friends, and Community

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, 1950. Good. Toned with upper cover loose, toning.. A striking assemblage of photos from the 1920s to the 1950s, appearing to have been collected by a single member of the Wilkes-Barre community, and painting a picture of one person's everyday network of family and friends. Three Black religious leaders are represented, including Rev. S.H. Jenkins of Wilkes-Barre, Rev. Thomas B. Williams of Wilkes-Barre, and Rev. Luther Anderson Holloway. There are snap shots of family and friends, with captions such as "picking flowers" or "Louise and Mother 1923". One of the more charming shots is of three handsome young gents looking sharp, but a bit hung over, titled "after a bad night". Includes photos of what appear to be close and distant relations, and friends of all ages, both male and female, and including Black, White, and Mixed-race family members. While this makes it difficult to suss out the exact connections, it paints a vivid and rich portrait of a social network. Images of smiling children are frequently included, along with a magazine clipping of a Black family in front of their damp wash laundry business store front (in Wilkes-Barre?) in suits and crisp dresses. A ready-made genealogy project for an interested history major. Single vol. (9.5" by 5.5"), approx. 50 leaves with one printed program, approx. 70 original photographs and snapshots, and about 5 newspaper and magazine clippings, in original grey boards printed in black "Journal (Inventory #: 24005933)