Races, Negroes: United States. Virginia. Hampton. Hampton Normal and Industrial School: Agencies Promoting Assimilation of the Negro. Training Negro Girls in Domestic Science. Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, Hampton, Va.: Scrubbing the Table. 1899 - 1900

Curator: Frances Benjamin Johnston’s photograph, part of a series on the Hampton Normal and Industrial School, shows a young woman scrubbing a table. The image aims to depict domestic science training for Negro girls. Editor: The somber lighting and the young woman’s downcast eyes create a melancholy mood, despite the ostensibly industrious subject. Curator: This image, and the series it belongs to, functions as a visual document of the Hampton Institute’s mission, which was to assimilate African Americans through vocational training. We can see the physical labor embedded in the image; the table, the cloth, the young woman’s posture. Editor: And it’s crucial to remember how this labor was contextualized within a broader system of racial and social control. The image’s display and circulation were instrumental in shaping public perceptions of African Americans. Curator: Johnston's photographic process itself—the choice of lighting, composition, and the very act of capturing this scene—reveals the complicated power dynamics at play. Editor: Absolutely. It forces us to consider the role of photography in shaping narratives around race, labor, and education during that era. Curator: Examining the image has really highlighted how intertwined labor, representation, and assimilation were. Editor: Yes, and how crucial it is to critically assess the historical context in which images like these were produced and consumed.