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. 1899 - 1900

Curator: This photographic print by Frances Benjamin Johnston captures scenes at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. Note the stark division, one side "A Sewing Class" and the other "A Dressmaking Class." The image itself seems to be mounted on card stock. Editor: The symmetry of the composition strikes me first; it's almost clinical in its presentation. There’s a real sense of order and the material conditions of learning. Curator: Johnston was commissioned to document the school's mission of vocational training for African Americans. Consider the social context: these skills were seen as avenues to economic independence, but within a segregated society. Editor: Absolutely. And the tools of production are so central here. We see the sewing machines, the fabrics, the very means by which these women are being equipped to participate in the labor market. It also prompts one to consider the commodification of craft and labor at this time. Curator: Precisely. It serves as a compelling reminder of the complex history and the institutional frameworks that shaped African American lives and opportunities. Editor: A powerful image when we look closely at the social and economic forces at play here.