Social Settlements: United States. Alabama. Calhoun. "Calhoun Colored School": Agencies Promoting Assimilation of the Negro. Development of Social Standards among the Negroes. Calhoun Colored School, Calhoun, Ala.: In School 1901

Curator: This is a photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston, part of a series on social settlements. This one focuses on the Calhoun Colored School in Alabama. Editor: The image feels incredibly stark, doesn’t it? The wood grain is so prominent, almost overwhelming, in contrast to the children diligently at work. Curator: Johnston’s work aimed to document and, in some ways, promote the assimilation of Black communities through education. It’s important to consider the power dynamics inherent in this gaze. Editor: Absolutely. Look at the materiality of the classroom—the desks, the map. These are tools, instruments in the process of shaping these children, imposing a social order. Curator: Exactly. The presence of the American flag also can’t be ignored. The image invites critical questioning of what "progress" and "social standards" truly meant in that era. Editor: It’s a poignant reminder of how materials and space can be deployed to both educate and control, revealing the complex and often contradictory nature of social reform.