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. 1899 - 1900

Curator: This is a photographic print by Frances Benjamin Johnston. It's titled "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." Editor: The stark contrast in the two scenes feels very deliberate. It's a study in light and shadow, almost clinical in its detachment. Curator: Johnston was documenting the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute. This was part of a larger project exploring education. It promoted vocational training for African Americans. Editor: The composition is unsettling. The rigid formality speaks to the constraints placed upon these women. The domestic scenes seem more like a performance than practical training. Curator: The Hampton Institute aimed to assimilate Black students into the dominant culture. These images were intended to show the progress. Editor: And yet, the very act of documenting them this way reinforces a power dynamic. It's a disturbing commentary on the era’s vision of social engineering. Curator: It’s definitely a complex visual document of its time. Editor: Indeed, a potent reminder of the past.