Races, Negroes: United States. Virginia. Hampton. Hampton Normal and Industrial School: Agencies Promoting Assimilation of the Negro. Training for Commercial and Industrial Employment. Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton, Va.: Mattress Making. 1899 - 1900

Editor: This photograph, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, shows a woman mattress making at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. There’s a quiet dignity to her work. What strikes you when you look at this image? Curator: It’s a study in contrasts, isn’t it? The stark institutional setting versus the intimate, almost domestic act of crafting a mattress. I wonder, what dreams will this mattress hold? What stories will it absorb? Editor: I hadn't thought of it that way, of the mattress holding dreams, but that's a lovely point. It makes me see her work as more than just labour. Curator: Exactly! Johnston captures a moment brimming with potential, both for the individual and a community striving for something more. It really gives you pause.