Portrait of three girls

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.

Martha Olson graduated from Northwestern University with her B.A. in Art in 1969, and within a year, she was working more than 800 miles away as the girls’ physical education teacher at Marion High School in Columbia, Mississippi. It was the first year of integration in Mississippi public schools. During that time, Olson photographed local students, their relatives, and other residents of Marion County, which she later compiled into a series entitled, "Marion County Mississippi: 1970-1971." A black and white photograph of (from left to right) Sunday Dieterman, (first name unknown) Fortenberry, and Willimina Stepney. The three girls are dressed in costume. Dieterman is wearing a long dress, angle wings, and a halo and has her hands covering her mouth and nose. Fortenberry is in the center wearing a jumper. Stepney is to the right wearing a light colored dress and a halo. On the back of the photograph are handwritten inscriptions identifying the subject, date, and photographer.

Catalog date

1970

Recorded places

Columbia, Marion County, Mississippi, United States, North and Central America

Recorded subjects

African American; American South; Children; Communities; Education; Photography

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