“The people photographed were soldiers, seamstresses and stable managers.”

“They are really stunning, in the way that they show dignity, respectability, style, panache among African Americans who lived in Central Virginia in the late 19th century and early 20th century. That is a time of Jim Crow segregation. That is a time when there were lynchings in this area, and yet you could see none of that.”

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/exhibit-spotlights-portraits-and-stories-of-black-southerners-living-during-jim-crow-era