[Photograph]: A&I State Normal Scool Home and Educational Department (Colored Section)

Nashville, Tennessee: [circa 1916?].

Price: $2,500.00

Unbound. Gelatin silver photograph. Image measures 9½" x 8½" on 10" x 8" photographic paper, mounted to 14" x 11¾" card backing with the photographer's name stamped in blind. Image with a bit of light staining, backing boards with corners rounded and a 5" neatly repaired closed tear (not affecting image), very good.

A striking image of the "Colored Section" of Nashville's A&I State Normal School Home and Educational Department, made by prominent Nashville African-American photographer George H. Anderson. In addition to a wagon, blankets, doilies, preserves, and framed prints (one of Frederick Douglass), many patriotic World War I broadsides are visible.

Tennessee’s general assembly agreed to authorize publicly supported normal schools in 1907, and Nashville’s African-American leaders demanded the inclusion of a school for Black students. Local leaders raised over $80,000, including funds gathered from a door-to-door campaign in African-American neighborhoods.

Tennessee A&I State Normal School for Negroes opened for summer school in June 1912, enrolling 245 students who were taught by 13 teachers. The school was formally dedicated the following year. By 1916, the school had about 400 students, and in a few years the number rose to several thousand. The school changed its name to Tennessee State Normal College in 1925, and is now known as Tennessee State University.

A striking, World War I-era photograph of the "Colored Section" of a Tennessee African-American teacher's college, featuring much patriotic material. African-American photographer George H. Anderson operated a studio in Nashville for almost 40 years.


Item #470453

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Item #470453 [Photograph]: A&I State Normal Scool Home and Educational Department (Colored Section). Geo. H. ANDERSON.