Historical Portrait

[Family portrait from the Kenneth B. Clark papers]

1920·Source: loc·View original ↗·Public Domain

Free to use. Public domain. No account needed.

Archive record

1 photographic print. | Photograph showing an African American family, possibly that of Mamie Phipps Clark or Kenneth B. Clark, in a formal studio portrait.

About this photograph

This formal studio portrait shows an African American family whose identity the archive record does not confirm. It may depict relatives of Mamie Phipps Clark or Kenneth B. Clark, both psychologists whose papers are held at the Library of Congress, but the cataloguing leaves this uncertain.

Studio portraiture held particular significance for Black families in 1920. Sitting for a formal photograph was a deliberate act at a time when published images of African Americans were largely caricatures. Black-owned studios served communities that white photographers often refused or treated dismissively.

The archive's inability to confirm who appears here reflects common record-keeping practices of the period, which frequently left Black sitters unnamed while documenting white subjects in detail. The photograph itself, carefully composed and preserved among the Clark papers, stands as the family's own assertion of presence and dignity.

Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.

About the format

Studio Portraits

Rights & Attribution

Credit: Library of Congress

Reuse: Public domain. Free to download, print, edit and republish, commercially or otherwise. How rights work in this archive.

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From the 1920s collection Studio Portraits Family Photographs