Portraits of African
Americans from the Alvan S. Harper Collection (1884-1910)
In the last decades of the 19th Century, white
Southern society began to pass laws to reverse the gains African Americans
made during Reconstruction. By 1900, the Age of Jim Crow (legal segregation)
was in full swing. Yet as these images taken by Tallahassee photographer
Alvan S. Harper reveal, many African Americans were able to prosper despite
the social and legal restrictions they faced.
Although unidentified today, these
images represent the teachers, business owners, and local leaders of
Tallahassee’s vibrant African American community.
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Young
African American woman wearing a white dress
Image Number: HA00883
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Young
woman wearing fancy hat
Image Number: HA00868
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Man
in a satin-faced coat, holding a cane
Image Number: HA00969
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Woman in dress with embroidered front and cuffs
Image Number: HA00869
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Woman
in dark dress with roses on bodice
Image Number: HA00861
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Man
in white coat, with tilted hat and cane
Image Number: HA01113
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Woman in embossed dress
Image Number: HA00858
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Woman in striped dress holding handkerchief
Image Number: HA00857
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Girl
holding a fan standing behind a gate
Image Number: HA1206
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Woman
holding parasol
Image Number: HA00859
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See the Alvan
S. Harper collection for more images of Tallahasseans and the Tallahassee
area. |