[Infantry sergeant, Buffalo soldier, with young girl]

Archive record

1 photographic print on cabinet card ; 16.5 x 10.5 cm. | Photograph shows a full-length portrait of an African American soldier in uniform, sitting next to a girl, who is standing to his right.

About this photograph

The photograph shows an African American infantry sergeant in uniform seated beside a standing girl. The record provides no names for either sitter. Albert Pollock created the image as a cabinet card portrait.

Studio portraits held particular significance in Black communities during this era, when published images of African Americans were largely caricatures. Sitting for a formal photograph was a deliberate act of dignity. The archive's lack of names for the sitters reflects common record-keeping practices of the period, which often left Black subjects unidentified while recording white sitters' names.

The term "Buffalo soldier" in the title refers to African American soldiers serving in the western United States after the Civil War, though the record does not specify this soldier's regiment or posting.

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

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