Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.

The second of a series of images collectively titled "Cabins and Darkeys", taken near Vicksburg, Mississippi and dated February, 1907. These glass "Extra Rapid Dry Plates" were manufactured by the M. A. Seed Dry Plate Co. of St. Louis, Missouri and were found, in their original box and sleeves, in an antique mall. Photographer unknown. Scanned from a print made from the original glass negative. View full size.
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