Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
- Freeze Frame
- Texas Flyer wanted
- Just a Year Too Soon
- WWII -- Replacing men with women at the railroad crossing.
- Yes, Icing
- You kids drive me nuts!
- NOT An Easy Job
- I wonder
- Just add window boxes
- Icing Platform?
- Indiana Harbor Belt abides
- Freezing haze
- Corrections (for those who care)
- C&NW at Nelson
- Fallen Flags
- A dangerous job made worse
- Water Stop
- Passenger trains have right of way over freights?
- Coal
- Never ceases to amaze me.
- Still chuggin' (in model form)
- Great shot
- Westerly Breeze
- For the men, a trapeze
- Tickled
- Sense of loneliness ...
- 2 cents
- Charm City
- What an Outrage
- Brighton Park
Photos submitted by Shorpy members!
Print Emporium
White Wash: 1951
The location: Fourth Avenue North in Birmingham, Alabama.
1951. "Segregation in the South." Which extended, evidently, even to pillowcases. Photo by John Vachon for the Look magazine article "How Far From Slavery?" Who'll be the first person to tell us where this might be? View full size.
+70
Below is the same view from February of 2021.
Parked
Parked up high at right for your viewing pleasure is a 1940 Studebaker, most likely a President Coupe, but possibly a Commander Coupe. Studebaker was 8th in U.S. auto sales with 117,091 cars sold during the 1940 calendar year. A 1940 Studebaker Champion was the Indianapolis 500 Pace Car, and a 1940 Studebaker Champion was Judy Garland's first car. The radio antenna appears to be an aftermarket accessory as the standard Studebaker antenna had a cowl-mounted antenna.
Progress against the odds
Interesting to note that even in Birmingham, even in 1951, there might be black folk with sufficient resources that, as some whites feared, they might send their laundry out to be washed commercially. How uppity!
Obligatory Shorpy Street View
The location of the laundry is now a vacant lot, but the building behind with "AMERICAN LIFE" emblazoned across the top still stands.
4th Avenue North
Hotel Granada: 2230 Fourth Avenue N., Birmingham, Alabama.
I typed in the offending slogan and found another photo of it in Google Books.
Two Things
I don't know where this was and I wasn't born as of 1951 but I will say that in the Northeast growing up we did see this kind of activity. I remember a small variety store in our neighborhood that would only let the white kids in on the way to school to buy snacks or whatever. It bothered me even as a youngster. Sometimes I'd buy items for others and give them to them outside the store.
On another note, here in the Northeast, Fluff refers to the marshmallow we'd put in our peanut butter sandwich, not TP.
Birmingham, Alabama
The Granada Hotel was a long-time fixture in Birmingham. The neighborhood around it became notorious for drugs and prostitution. The hotel burned some years ago, but its shell has been reclaimed and is now in use as a center for homeless women and children.
At least that's my guess.
Shorpy.com is a vintage photography site featuring thousands of high-definition images. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago. Contact us | Privacy policy | Accessibility Statement | Site © 2024 Shorpy Inc.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5