Description: Photograph of Tap and Susie Hawkins, married ex-slaves who lived at 809 Dibert Avenue in Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. The photograph was taken by staff of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The Federal Writers' Project (FWP) was a United States federal government project to fund written work and support writers during the Great Depression. On April 1, 1937, the FWP received formal approval and instructions to conduct interviews of surviving ex-slaves in Ohio. Most of the narratives were compiled in 1937 and 1938 and gathered from around the state. After the termination of the Federal Writers' Project, most narratives were transferred to the Writers' Unit of the Library of Congress. However, an additional 28 narratives were discovered in the State Archives holdings of the Ohio History Connection. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: sc1495_13_01
Subjects: African American couples; African American Ohioans; Slavery; Former slaves
Places: Springfield (Ohio); Clark County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of an unidentified African American couple standing on a porch, possibly leaving a church service, from the Ohio Baptist General Association Collection. The Ohio Baptist General Association, an organization of African American Baptist churches with its headquarters in Columbus, was founded in 1895 as the Ohio Baptist State Convention and reorganized as the Ohio Baptist General Association in 1919. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: P190_B01_01
Subjects: African American couples; Religion in Ohio; Clothing and dress;
 

Description: Tintype portrait of Bessie and William Brimbee. The couple was married on December 1, 1898, likely around the time this photograph was taken. The photograph comes from the collection of Evva Kenney Heath, Bessie's younger sister. The sisters, along with their older brother John, were born to David and Louisa Kenney in Cardington, Ohio. Their father passed away when the children were young, and they were raised in Cardington by their mother. All three attended and graduated from the predominantly white Cardington-Union Schools. Bessie died at a young age shortly after the birth of her daughter, Florence, in 1902. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03635
Subjects: African American couples; Tintype; Portrait photography
Places: Cardington (Ohio); Morrow County (Ohio)
 

Description: Portrait of an African American man and woman in formal dress. This photograph was taken by traveling photographer Albert J. Ewing, ca. 1896-1912. Like most of Ewing's work, it was likely taken in southeastern Ohio or central West Virginia. Born in 1870 in Washington County, Ohio, near Marietta, Ewing most likely began his photography career in the 1890s. The 1910 US Census and a 1912-1913 directory list him as a photographer. A negative signed "Ewing Brothers" and a picture with his younger brother, Frank, indicate that Frank may have joined the business. After 1916, directories list Albert as a salesman. He died in 1934. The Ewing Collection consists of 5,055 glass plate negatives, each individually housed and numbered. Additionally, the collection includes approximately 450 modern contact prints made from the glass plate negatives. Subjects include infants and young children, elderly people, families, school and religious groups, animals and rural scenes. In 1982, the Ohio Historical Society received the collection, still housed in the original dry plate negative boxes purchased by Albert J. Ewing. A selection of the original glass plate negatives were exhibited for the first time in 2013 at the Ohio Historical Center. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06338
Subjects: Ewing, Albert J. (1870-1934); Couples; Portrait photography--United States--History; African American men; African American women
Places: Ohio; West Virginia