Photograph of Etta Moten Barnett by Scurlock: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a black and white portrait of Etta Moten Barnett by the photographer Scurlock. Taken from the shoulders up, she is posed with her back to the camera. She turns and looks over her left shoulder, gazing directly at the viewer. She wears a dress or top with a back consisting of several wide straps radiating down from a beaded collar that dips low across her back. In the bottom left hand corner of the image is black vertical text that reads “SCURLOCK / WASH / DC.” The photograph is set in an off-white matting with a thin black line around the border of the image. Two-thirds of the way along the two sides and along the bottom is a second thin black line, and halfway up the sides and partway along the left and right sides of the bottom margins is a third black line framing the image. The image and its matting are bound into a black cardboard folder. The front cover is a matte black with large silver text in the upper center that reads “A / MODERN /PORTRAIT.” Along the left hand margin is a thick silver line next to a series of thin silver lines of decreasing height. The immediate next page is a blank silver paper embossed to resemble leather or lizard skin. This page covers the photograph itself. The back of the cover is matte black and blank.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1930
• Photograph by: Addison N. Scurlock, American, 1883 - 1964
• Subject of: Etta Moten Barnett, American, 1901 - 2004
• Owned by: Etta Moten Barnett, American, 1901 - 2004
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper , ink on cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W (image): 6 1/2 × 4 7/16 in. (16.5 × 11.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (sheet): 11 13/16 × 7 7/8 in. (30 × 20 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (folder open): 12 1/16 × 16 5/16 in. (30.7 × 41.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (folder closed): 12 1/16 × 8 3/16 in. (30.7 × 20.8 cm)
• Place captured: Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Broadway Theatre
• Topic: Local and regional
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Topic: Women
• Object number: A2022.13.1.41
• 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: © Addison N. Scurlock Estate Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.