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.: Second and Third Year Tailors. 1899 - 1900

Editor: This photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston, titled "Second and Third Year Tailors," shows students at the Hampton Normal and Industrial School. The materiality of the image itself, the sepia tones, makes me think about labor and documentation. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a focus on the means of production. Note the arrangement of the tables, the organization of labor, and the tools scattered about. The image documents an effort to assimilate through industrial training, effectively showcasing the manufacture of a workforce. The materiality of their labor is made visible. Editor: So, it's not just about tailoring but about the industrial process itself? Curator: Precisely. Consider the social context: the school's aim and how this photograph serves as a record of that objective. It’s a study in how labor, materiality, and societal goals intersect. Editor: That's a really interesting way to look at it; I hadn't considered the image as part of the manufacturing process too.