Photograph of Aurora Greeley: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of Aurora Greeley. Greeley is centrally depicted, set against a black background. She is standing on her proper left leg with her proper right knee slightly raised, with her proper right toes resting on the floor. She is holding both of her arms out in front of her. Her proper left hand is draped over her proper right hand and both hands are pointing downwards, displaying the harem bracelet draped over the top of her proper left hand. Her head is turned and she is looking towards the left side of the image. She is wearing a metallic bikini top embellished with dark gemstones, matching bikini bottoms decorated with tassels, and a large headpiece. The headpiece is a metallic skullcap that covers her forehead with a “V” shape. The top of the headpiece also has three large, overlapping rings embellished with round metallic discs. There are translucent, metallic cones on the ground on either side of her. An inscription in blue ink in the bottom left corner reads, [To Laurie / A Very [---?] Girl / may you Reach / the "Tap" - / Always / Aurora / 1936]. A second inscription in blue ink, by the same hand, in the bottom right corner reads, [of / Broomfield / & Greeley]. The photographer’s mark is handwritten in white ink near the bottom center and reads, [CLOUD’S / STUDIO / L. A.]. There are no inscriptions on the back of the photograph.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1936
• Photograph by: Cloud’s Studio, American
• Subject of: Aurora Greeley, American, 1905 - 1983
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 9 3/8 × 7 1/2 in. (23.8 × 19 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 9 13/16 × 7 15/16 in. (25 × 20.1 cm)
• Place made: Los Angeles, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2013.46.25.159
• 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.