Races, Negroes: United States. Virginia. Hampton. Hampton Normal and Industrial School: Agencies Promoting Assimilation of the Negro. Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. Hampton, Va.: The Battalion. 1899 - 1900

Curator: This photograph by Frances Benjamin Johnston, titled "Races, Negroes: United States. Virginia. Hampton. Hampton Normal and Industrial School," captures a battalion at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. The image itself feels so regimented, almost sterile in its presentation. Editor: Absolutely. The rows upon rows of young Black men in uniform, standing in perfect formation, evoke a sense of enforced conformity. Consider the title, "Agencies Promoting Assimilation of the Negro." Curator: Exactly. Johnston was documenting institutions like Hampton, which were ostensibly designed to educate Black Americans, but also to assimilate them into white society. The military precision speaks volumes about the expected behavior and erasure of individual identity. Editor: And how the school's very structure, with its focus on agricultural and industrial training, reinforced existing power structures and limited opportunities. Seeing this photograph, one must question what 'progress' truly meant during this period. It seems, ultimately, bittersweet. Curator: Precisely. Johnston's photograph, while seemingly straightforward, opens up crucial dialogues about race, power, and the complex history of education in America.