Photograph of female performers in costume: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of a ten (10) female dancers in costume. The women are seated and standing in two (2) rows, facing the viewer. There are four (4) women in the front row, five (5) women in the back row, and one (1) partially visible woman standing above the back row. The dancers are all wearing white satiny dresses with gathered bodices, long sleeves, and thick bands of dark sequins that loop around the neck and is sewn down the front of the bodice and along the hemline. All of the women sport up-dos with large, rolled bangs. Laura Cathrell is seated in the front row, second front the left. Her hands are placed on the knees of the women depicted on either side of her. Birdie Warfield Edison is depicted to the right of Laura. There are no inscriptions on the front or back of the photograph.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1941
• Photograph by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Laura Cathrell, 1914 - 1999
• Subject of: Birdie Warfield Edison, American
• Subject of: Unidentified Woman or Women
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Type: portraits
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (Image): 7 3/16 × 9 7/16 in. (18.3 × 23.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 8 1/16 × 10 1/4 in. (20.4 × 26 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2013.46.25.99
• 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.