Rediscovering an American Community of Color

The Photo Detective

Most photo collectors dream about stumbling upon a significant collection that changes our understanding of photo history. For Frank Morrill, it was a series of connections that led to his purchasing a huge collection of glass negatives. Years later his granddaughter held one up and asked him about them. That second look led to a collaboration with a historian at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, an exhibit and an award winner catalog for the show. Those negatives documented the African American community in that city, a group of individuals studied by Janette Greenwood for a project on migrations. She never thought she’d see the faces of those individuals nor did the descendants of many of the people in the photographers. It was a case of photographic kismet.

Related Episodes:

Episode 65: Lost Films Needs Your Help

Links:

• Rediscovering an American Community of Color
• Sign up for my newsletter.
• Watch my YouTube Channel.
• Like the Photo Detective Facebook Page so you get notified of my Facebook Live videos.
• Need help organizing your photos? Check out the Essential Photo Organizing Video Course.
• Need help identifying family photos? Check out the Identifying Family Photographs Online Course.
• Have a photo you need help identifying? Sign up for photo consultation.

About My Guests:

Frank J. Morrill is a lifelong educator. He received his graduate degree from the University of Buffalo and taught science, history and law at Millbury, Massachusetts High School. In retirement he has written several local history books and co-authored three with his granddaughter Hannah Morrill. He has always had a strong interest in historical documents and photographs and has collected them for more than 50 years. This interest led to the acquisition, in 2003, of the collection of William S. Bullard’s 5,400 glass negatives taken primarily in Worcester County.

Janette Thomas Greenwood is Professor of History at Clark University. She teaches a variety of courses in U.S. history including Race and Ethnicity in American History, Reconstruction, The Gilded Age, Public History, and History of the American South. She is the author of several books and articles including First Fruits of Freedom: The Migration of Former Slaves and Their Search for Equality in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1862-1900 (2010. She co-curated “Reimagining an American Community of Color: The Portraits of William Bullard, 1897-1917,” an exhibition at the Worcester Art Museum, October 2017—February 2018 and co-edited and contributed an essay to the exhibition catalogue, which won the Historic New England Book Prize in 2018.

About Maureen Taylor:

Maureen is a frequent keynote speaker on photo id

I'm thrilled to be offering something new. Photo investigations. These collaborative one-on-one sessions. Look at your family photos then you and I meet to discuss your mystery images. And find out how each clue and hint might contribute to your family history. Find out more by going to maureentaylor.com and clicking on family photo investigations.

Support the show