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Museum object · Photographs and Still Images

Albumen print of men, women, and children picking cotton in South Carolina

ca. 1875

Charleston, Charleston County, South Carolina, United States, North and Central America

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Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

An albumen print mounted on board depicting formerly enslaved men, women and children picking cotton on a South Carolina plantation. The laborers are spread out in the field, many bending down to pick the cotton. The women wear checked dresses and cloth headwraps. The men wear light colored shirts and dark brimmed hats. Many wear large sacks strapped across their bodies. In the upper left corner, a man raises a large basket behind his head with both hands. In the left foreground, a small girl in a checked dress and patterned head kerchief stands next to a large basket full of cotton. A stamp on the verso reads: [GEO L. COOK, Photographer - 265 KING ST. CHARLESTON, S.C.].

Sources & collection details

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗

Source collection ↗

Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

Catalog reference: 2008.9.22

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