Photograph of Laura Cathrell: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A silver gelatin print depicting a black-and-white image of Laura Cathrell in costume. Cathrell is centrally depicted performing on a stage with several female performers around her. Cathrell is wearing a light colored dress with ruffled short sleeves and a short, tiered, ruffled skirt. She is standing in front of a microphone. Her proper left arm is bent and her fingers are curled downwards. Two (2) female performers are wearing identical costumes that include white, short sleeve shirts with dark, peter pan collars and dark, short overalls. The female performer kneeling in the bottom right quadrant of the image is wearing a long, light colored nightgown and has a large bow in her hair. Behind Cathrell is an abstract cutout of a human figure. In the foreground, the back of two (2) audience member's heads are visible. In the center of the photograph is a handwritten inscription in black ink that reads, [To / Mommie / & / Baby Sallie / The sweetest people I know / Laure]. There are two stamps in black ink on the back of the photograph. The stamp at the top center reads, [OCT 1[4?], 1938] and the one at the center reads, [harry rossner / CANDID PHOTOGRAPHER / 116 ave. c, b’klyn, n.y.].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: October 14, 1938
• Photograph by: Harry Rossner
• Subject of: Laura Cathrell, 1914 - 1999
• 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): 9 1/2 × 7 11/16 in. (24.1 × 19.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (Sheet): 9 15/16 × 8 1/8 in. (25.3 × 20.6 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Dance
• Topic: Music
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Theatre
• Object number: 2013.46.25.157
• 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.