Digital Collections come from a broad range of sources, including materials that are offensive or contain negative stereotypes. VCU Libraries provides access to these items to support research and inquiry.
A note about searching: In an item-level search, digital objects with unknown dates may display a modern publication date (2023/2024). This date is inaccurate, and cannot be suppressed. Please see date approximation in individual item record for accurate item date.
About this collection
In 2000, VCU Libraries in collaboration with The Valentine selected and digitized this group of nearly 300 images, primarily of African Americans, from the George and Huestis Cook Photograph Collection held by the Valentine. These images are scans of the original prints produced from glass-plate or film negatives. George S. Cook (1819-1902) and Huestis P. Cook (1868-1951) captured these images primarily in the Richmond and Central Virginia area during the late-19th and early-20th century.
Many of these photographs, like others from this era, were posed or staged. They provide some insight into both Black life and white racist perceptions of that existence.
Display titles on select items have been altered to remove harmful and outdated language. All original titles from materials are maintained in the "Original Title" field for research and citation purposes.
In 2024, descriptions were added to the "Description" field in most items in this collection. These descriptions were created by staff at The Valentine, and have been added to this collection with their permission. If The Valentine has also hosted the image, a link to their website is also included in the item description.
Copyright
This material is in the public domain in the United States and thus is free of any copyright restriction. Acknowledgment of The Valentine as a source is requested. For information about ordering copies and commercial use of these images, contact The Valentine.
