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.: Polishing the Stove. 1899 - 1900

Curator: Frances Benjamin Johnston captured this photograph at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. It's titled "Races, Negroes: United States. Virginia. Hampton...Polishing the Stove." Editor: The stove is such a prominent, ornamented symbol of domesticity, isn't it? There's a subtle weight in how it dominates the frame. Curator: Indeed. Hampton was founded to educate freedmen, but this image encapsulates the school’s focus on vocational training for Black women, especially in domestic service. Editor: The act of polishing suggests cleanliness, order, but also erasure. What is being erased, and who benefits from it? The stove becomes a stage for performing assimilation. Curator: Precisely. By framing domestic labor as progress, the image normalizes racial and gendered hierarchies. It invites us to consider whose narratives are prioritized. Editor: The stove almost becomes an altar—a monument to the complicated legacies of education, labor, and identity. Curator: I agree, and Johnston’s work encourages us to examine these nuanced meanings. Editor: It's a powerful reminder of the enduring power of visual imagery in shaping our understanding of history.