Auburn Avenue Research Library Digital Exhibits

Items

• 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.
• 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.
• Unidentified Girl Next to Chair, undated
  Cabinet card studio portrait of an unidentified young African American girl standing beside an upholstered chair, photographed in Atlanta in the 1890s. The child wears a long, lace-trimmed dress and holds a small bouquet, posed formally against a studio backdrop. The image reflects the traditions of childhood portraiture and the importance of documenting family life and respectability in African American communities in the late nineteenth century. The child may possibly be Selena Sloan Butler as a young girl, though this identification is not confirmed.
• Darrilyn Selena Butler at Age 20
  Color portrait photograph of Selena Sloan Butler's granddaughter Darrilyn Selena Butler at age 20, wearing a floral headpiece and smiling while looking off-camera, circa 1973.