Portrait of Gwen Benjamin and Alice Irvin
date: label: Date
content: 1970
name: label: Photograph by
content: Martha Olson, American
label: Subject of
content: Gwen Benjamin, American
label: Subject of
content: Alice Irvin, American
notes: label: Caption
content: Martha Olson graduated from Northwestern University with her B.A. in Art in 1969, and within a year, she was working more than 800 miles away as the girls’ physical education teacher at Marion High School in Columbia, Mississippi. It was the first year of integration in Mississippi public schools. During that time, Olson photographed local students, their relatives, and other residents of Marion County, which she later compiled into a series entitled, "Marion County Mississippi: 1970-1971."
label: Description
content: A black and white photograph of (from left to right) Gwen Benjamin and Alice Irvin. Benjamin and Irvin stand shoulder to shoulder and look directly at the camera. Benjamin, on the left, wears a light colored jacket, while Irvin, on the right wears a dark colored jacket. The photograph is mounted to a paper frame. [Martha Olson] is handwritten in pencil on the interior frame below the photograph. Several inscriptions about the subject of the photograph, the photographer, and numbers.
place: label: Place depicted
content: Columbia, Marion County, Mississippi, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: American South
label: Topic
content: Communities
label: Topic
content: Education
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Youth
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Portfolio/Series
content: Marion County Mississippi: 1970-1971
label: Classification
content: Photographs and Still Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Martha Olson
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2018.21.44
objectType: label: Type
content: gelatin silver prints
label: Type
content: portraits
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Martha Olson
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 (Image): 8 × 9 15/16 in. (20.3 × 25.2 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (Paper Frame Closed): 14 × 17 in. (35.6 × 43.2 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (Paper Frame Open): 28 × 17 in. (71.1 × 43.2 cm)