<I>Washington, D.C. Government Charwoman (American Gothic)</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1942; printed 1990s
name: label: Photograph by
content: Gordon Parks, American, 1912 - 2006
label: Subject of
content: Ella Watson, American, 1883 - 1980
label: Received by
content: Terry Singh, Guyanese American, born 1966
notes: label: Caption
content: In 1942, as a photographer for the Farm Security Administration, Gordon Parks documented the joys and struggles of African Americans who toiled to maintain the allure of Washington, D.C., while raising their own families in difficult conditions. Ella Watson, pictured here, allowed Parks access to her work life cleaning government offices and her home life caring for her grandchildren. In American Gothic, Watson holds her broom and mop against the backdrop of the American flag, emphasizing the cost of citizenship. The title and composition reference the 1930 Grant Wood painting of a farmer and his daughter, with the man holding a pitchfork outside their Iowa farmhouse.
label: Caption
content: In this project, Parks showed his determination to fight societal ills with his camera, which he referred to as his “choice of weapons against what [he] hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty.”
label: Description
content: A black-and-white gelatin silver print of Ella Watson captured by Gordon Parks. Watson is depicted standing in front of an American flag while holding a broom in one hand and a mop in the other. Watson appears in the bottom half of the image, wearing round-framed eyeglasses and a polka dot dress with two buttons fastened on the waist. With her proper right hand, she holds a straw broom, brush side up, and with her proper left hand she holds a mop, with the mophead up. Behind Watson the United States flag hangs on a wall with the canton on the upper left side. On the front of the print, along the bottom margin, is an inscription in black marker “To Terry Singh + Family” and the photographer's signature: "Gordon Parks."
place: label: Place depicted
content: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Government
label: Topic
content: Labor
label: Topic
content: Local and regional
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Urban life
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
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2024.63
objectType: label: Type
content: gelatin silver prints
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: 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: 14 × 11 in. (35.6 × 27.9 cm)