Black Man leaning out window, wearing a chef hat, Iowa
Postcard photo of black man with chef’s hat leaning out of window with shutter like a place of business. Back: handwritten: “Clinton, Iowa”
Toledo, Iowa, senior class
Image shows a class photo with women in white blouses or dresses and men in suits and ties. Many of the students are White. There is one Black student in the far right of the second row. The caption in...
Clarinda, Iowa, integrated school group
Photo shows an elementary school classroom sitting with their teacher outside, One Black student. The hand written note below the photo says “Dear Ones, we all wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” Back: The card is...
THE CAKE WALK couple Dance
From NPR: “The cakewalk was a pre-Civil War dance originally performed by slaves on plantation grounds. The uniquely American dance was first known as the “prize walk”; the prize was an elaborately decorated cake. Hence, “prize walk” is the original source...
Black Infantrymen at Camp Dodge Iowa
Photo shows Black soldiers at drill practice. Caption under photo reads: “Colored Infantry, Camp Dodge, Iowa” Back has message to “Sis” and is addressed to “Miss Esther Bains, Rock Island, Illinois” Cancel mark is “Des Moines, Iowa, Dodge Branch” Left...
Schoolchildren near Swisher, Iowa
Group of school children posing outside of a wooden schoolhouse. The back of the postcard says, in pencil, “Near Swisher” It is possible that two of the children are Black young boys. All the boys wear caps.
Martin Luther King allegedly at “Communist Training” School
In 1965 King was accused of allegedly attending a Communist workshop because of his association with Tennessee’s Highlander Folk School. The school had been maligned as a “Communist training school” on billboards put up throughout Alabama during the Selma to...
Le Mars Iowa school, White students
La Mars, Iowa school photo. All White students, with boys on one side and girls on the other. Right margin has printed: “Franklin Street Public School, Le Mars, Iowa, Made in Germany. J. P. Feschbach, Importer and Publisher, Le Mars,...
Black Iowan Man in Rural Landscape
Photo of Black man wearing cap in a park-like setting. Writing on back: “Boone Ia, June 13, 1909, Dear Brother I am well and hope you are the same. I am ashamed of my self for not writing but i...
Black Chautauqua workers or performers posing outside
Photo postcard showing a group of Black people dressed in white for the Chautauqua days in Sac City Iowa. They might be jubilee singers. White tents can be seen in the background. The back has the publishers name on the...
Centerville Iowa School group, integrated
front: photo of integrated school group posing outside of the school. back, stamped on left margin: “Chas. I. Hammond, Centerville Iowa” The lengthy hand-written message is addressed to “Dear Uncle” and the card was sent to “Mr. Stright Barker, Plainfield,...
Black woman full length studio portrait in Sioux City, Iowa
Photo shows a Black woman posing for her portrait, 3/4 length, in a studio in Sioux City, Iowa. Back printed on left margin: “Day and Night Postal Card Studio, 309 Fourth Street, Sioux City, Iowa” The postcard has a long...
Integrated Classroom, Central School, Algona, Iowa,
Front of card shows an interior of a classroom with rows of desks and children in many of them. Most of the children are White; a Black child is in a desk in the center back. Under the photographs is...
Black American soldier standing by toppled Frederick III statue, WW1
Photo postcard shows the toppled statue of Frederick III with several White men and one Black American soldier at the left. Friedrich III (1831 – 1888) was the German emperor and king of Prussia for 99 days. The sculpture, commissioned...
cake walk on the pier
Photo postcard with image of a line of Black performers in various types of attire on a stage. The back of the postcard says “Miss Nettie Miller / East Berlin / Adams Co / Penna MJW is written on the...
Who Radio Des Moines with racist doll as prop
Large scale photograph postcard Who Radio Des Moines Iowa with “Cowboy Ken” and “Uncle Stan” holding with two prop dolls: a toy Rabbit and a caricatured Black doll that was called “Nappy.”