Arcana:

Home, Harriette Wilder. NP (Chesapeake, VA?): Harriette Wilder Home, 1908. First Edition. Oblong 12mo. Loose Photograph. Silver Gelatin Photograph. Fine.. One individual 3 ¼ x 5 ½" gelatin silver photograph. This is an original photograph by Harriette Wilder Home taken during a five day cruise on the passenger ship SS Powhatan along the Virginia Coast in mid-July, 1908. It depicts four African-American laborers - one in overalls, one in a chef's smock, and two in slacks and long sleeved shirts - posing on deck in front of the ship's nameplate for the photographer. "The Powhatan was originally was launched as the SS Yorktown February 10th, 1894, by Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works for the Old Dominion Steamship Company. The Navy purchased the Yorktown on April 21st, 1898, to be commissioned as the second USS Resolute, an auxiliary cruiser and transport that saw naval service during the Spanish-American War in 1898-1899. The Department of War acquired the ship on January 22nd, 1900, for service as the Army Transport (USAT) Rawlings. The Rawlings was then decommissioned and sold to the Merchants and Miners Transportation Company of Baltimore, Maryland on July 27, 1901, and renamed Powhatan." A most handsome example of this unique vernacular photograph showing just a bit of silvering along the left margin. Inventory Number: 026998