Search Results

1. Benjamin K. Edwards collection

   ca. 13,000 items. -- Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   This collection of tobacco trade cards documents advertising techniques used by American tobacco companies from the late 1800s through the 1940s. Cards were first issued by tobacco companies in the 1880s for distribution in cigarette packages and served to stiffen the packages, promote sales, and foster brand loyalty. Baseball cards became the most popular collecting subject, depicting professional, minor, and amateur league players and teams, 1887-1914. Larger illustrated albums featuring specific sets were also available for collectors. The tobacco cards and albums depict actors and actresses, historical figures, animals and plants, military personnel and equipment, Civil War heroes, various forms of transportation, flags, jokes and puzzles, depictions of life in the American West, and other subjects. Some of the collector's lists, correspondence, and notes relating to the collection of tobacco cards are included with the collection.

   Please note:

   Access restrictions apply.

2. Visual materials from the Booker T. Washington papers

   701 items (chiefly photographic prints); 57 x 41 cm. or smaller.. -- Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

   Summary:

   Photographs document the activities of Booker T. Washington as a leader and agrarian organizer in the South at the turn of the century. Many depict Booker T. Washington’s speaking engagements at such places as Ocala, Tallahasee, and Daytona, Fla.; Mound Bayou, Miss.; and Baton Rouge, La. The collection also includes photographs that document classes and activities at the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Tuskegee, Ala., including a parade for the celebration of the visit of President Theodore Roosevelt on October 24, 1905; celebrations for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Institute in 1906; and students building dormitories and other facilities. Also includes a group portrait of the faculty of the Institute in 1897, as well as a few images of such faculty members as Frederick Douglass, Emmett Scott, and George Washington Carver. In addition, the collection contains portraits of other African Americans, including Blanche K. Bruce, Henry O. Tanner, John R. Lynch, Richard T. Greener, and John M. Langston, as well as alumni of Tuskegee Institute. Also includes portraits of African American students at other schools in the South. Many images are unique because of personal inscriptions to Booker T. Washington.