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 School Church. 1899 - 1900

Editor: This photograph, "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 School Church," captured by Frances Benjamin Johnston, shows a large group gathered in what appears to be a church. It's quite striking. What symbols stand out to you? Curator: The sheer number of people arranged within the architecture itself speaks volumes. The church symbolizes not just spiritual guidance, but also social control and, arguably, cultural transformation. The students' faces, though difficult to discern, represent a generation caught between their heritage and the promise, or perhaps the imposition, of a new identity. What emotions does the image evoke in you? Editor: I feel a sense of both hope and constraint. It is powerful to consider the weight of that moment. Thank you. Curator: Indeed. It reveals a complex cultural negotiation visualized through space and the human form.