New photography by Ed Pollard captured with a digital camera-2006.

Blacksmith Shop, the Only One in the City in the Negro Section. Newport News, Virginia

Artist Paul Schermerhorn Carter (American, 1903 - 1938)

CultureAmerican

Date1936

MediumGelatin silver print

DimensionsOverall, Image: 6 5/8 × 9 3/8 in. (16.8 × 23.8 cm)
Overall, Support: 8 × 9 15/16 in. (20.3 × 25.2 cm)
Overall, Mat: 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, Horace W. Goldsmith Fund

Object number84.78.30

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is one of a series of 132 FSA photographs of Virginia; all are gelatin silver prints.

Label TextPaul Carter American, 1903–1938 Blacksmith Shop, The Only One in the City in the Negro Section. Newport News, Virginia, September 1936 Gelatin silver print (photograph), printed 1984 During the Depression, many people moved from farm to trade jobs. This photograph of a blacksmith shop with horseshoes scattered about recalls America’s farming practices before mechanization. The blacksmith’s hearth sits high off the floor in a heavy iron square. Tools like nippers, bucksaws, rip saws, wrenches, and braces hang from the ceiling, while scraps of discarded parts cover the floor. A window with a single plank allowed the smoke from forging to escape during cold months. Chrysler Museum purchase 84.78.30 ProvenancePurchased prints from Library of Congress (negatives on file at Library of Congress,) 1984.Exhibition History"Mountaineers to Main Streets: The Old Dominion as seen through the Farm Security Administration Photographs," Large Changing Gallery, Chrysler Museum of Art, May 3 - June 16, 1985. "Portraying a Nation: American Portrait Photography, 1850-2010," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, August 25, 2010 - September 11, 2011.Published ReferencesBrooks Johnson. _Mountaineers to Main Streets: The Old Dominion as seen through the Farm Security Administration Photographs_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA. 1985: p. 43.