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Margaret Bowen with other Alpha Kappa Alpha Members, University of Cincinnati, 1922
Group portrait of African American women affiliated with the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. at the University of Cincinnati in 1922. The photograph includes Margaret Bowen (front row, left) seated among fellow members of the Omicron Chapter. The women are arranged in a studio setting, seated and standing around a small table, dressed in fashionable early-1920s attire including tailored dresses, necklaces, and carefully styled hair. The portrait reflects the importance of Black sororities as spaces of sisterhood, scholarship, and leadership for African American women in higher education during the early twentieth century. Through organizations like Alpha Kappa Alpha, college-educated Black women built networks of mutual support while advancing academic achievement, civic engagement, and community uplift.
Lugenia Burns Hope and Georgia Club Women
Group portrait of African American clubwomen gathered outside a building in the 1920s. The photograph includes prominent civic leaders Lugenia Burns Hope, seated in the front row center, and Selena Sloan Butler standing to her right. The women are dressed in tailored dresses, coats, and hats typical of the period, reflecting the dignity and professionalism of Black women engaged in community leadership. Images like this document the powerful networks of African American clubwomen who organized for education, social reform, and community uplift during the early twentieth century. Their collective efforts shaped civic institutions, expanded opportunities for Black families, and strengthened movements for racial advancement across the United States.
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority - Beta, Gamma and Delta Chapters, The Aurora, 1928
Pages from the 1928 issue of The Aurora, the official magazine of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., featuring photographs and reports from several collegiate chapters. The pages highlight members of the Beta, Gamma, and Delta chapters, including group portraits of sorors posed together and accompanied by captions identifying individual members and officers. The articles describe chapter activities, leadership roles, scholarship initiatives, and social events organized by members. These images and texts document the early growth of the sorority and the important role African American women played in higher education, professional development, and community leadership during the 1920s. The photographs capture the pride, camaraderie, and intellectual engagement of young Black women building networks of sisterhood and service in the early twentieth century.
Woman standing, wearing feather and jeweled hat and dress, undated
Studio portrait of an African American woman standing in an elaborately styled outfit, photographed in the mid-1920s by James Van Der Zee. The woman wears a dramatic feathered headdress and a jeweled headpiece, paired with a richly decorated dress adorned with beads, chains, and metallic embellishments. She poses confidently with one hand on her hip against a painted studio backdrop. The striking costume and theatrical styling reflect the glamour, creativity, and expressive fashion associated with the Harlem Renaissance era, a period when portrait photography celebrated individuality, elegance, and cultural pride.
Unidentified Woman in Shawl, 1926
Sepia studio portrait of an African American woman standing in a doorway wearing a shawl and a fringed dress, photographed in Atlanta in 1926. The inscription on the photograph reads, “To our son from your devoted mother, November 1, 1926.” The woman may be Selena Sloan Butler, though this identification is not confirmed. The portrait reflects the dignity, style, and familial devotion expressed through formal portrait photography in early twentieth-century African American communities.
Program (Sep - Dec), Yearbook, Utopian Literary Club, 1927
Program of activities and those in charge of those activities