<I>The Boss</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1932
name: label: Created by
content: P. H. Polk, American, 1898 - 1984
label: Subject of
content: Unidentified Woman or Women
notes: label: Caption
content: When she came in the studio, while I was getting my camera ready, I looked up, and I said, ‘That woman can boss anybody.’ . . . And there she is.
label: Caption
content: P. H. Polk served for 50 years as the official photographer for Tuskegee University (formerly the Tuskegee Institute). In this role, he made portraits of prominent African Americans and recorded the service of Tuskegee school associates, including many images of George Washington Carver. Importantly, he also produced powerful images of everyday African Americans. The woman featured here was on the Tuskegee campus for a farmer’s convention when Polk invited her to his studio. In the resulting photographs, Polk beautifully captures her commanding presence. Despite her worn garb, the woman conveys power, control, and confidence.
label: Description
content: Silver gelatin photograh featuring an image of a woman wearing headscarf with her hands placed on her hips.
place: label: Place captured
content: Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Agriculture
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Women
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Photographs and Still Images
label: Exhibition
content: Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience.
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 052
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Delano A. Willis
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2009.30.1
objectType: label: Type
content: gelatin silver prints
label: Type
content: portraits
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Tuskegee University Archives
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 10 x 8 in. (25.4 x 20.3 cm)