Photograph of a group ten female performers in matching costumes and three men: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of a group ten female performers in matching costumes and three men. The female performers are wearing white wearing bikini tops with black bands on the shoulder straps and along the bust line with matching bottoms. The group is depicted standing and kneeling in three rows. There are four women kneeling in the bottom row. The two women depicted at each end of the row are wearing costumes. The other two women, depicted in the center of the row, are wearing white blouses. The woman right of center, is slightly forward of the others in the bottom row and Birdie Warfield Edison is kneeling on the far left of the front row. The middle row has four women, three in costume and one woman, on the far right, wearing a white halter top and short white skirt similar to the costumes worm by the other female performers. Two of the women in costume have their arms around each other’s shoulders. Chickie Collins stands at the center of the middle row. She is holding the hand of the woman behind her who has draped her arm over Collin’s shoulder. The top row has three men in dark suits and two women. The heads of the man in the center of the row, and the woman to the right of him, are partially cut off. The men are standing on the far left, the far right, and in the center. Behind the group is tall fencing and a brick wall. There are no inscriptions on the front or back of the photograph.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1937
• Photograph by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Chickie Collins, American, died 1942
• Subject of: Birdie Warfield Edison, American
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 2 3/8 × 4 1/16 in. (6 × 10.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 2 11/16 × 4 7/16 in. (6.8 × 11.2 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2013.46.25.252
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.