Unseen Photographs

Deborah Nelson Linck has curated a powerful photography exhibition of invisible people. The people in the photographs were all real people, but for much of America they didn't exist simply because they were black. Pictures of them didn't appear in the newspapers, magazines, textbooks or even advertising because they were regular folks, neither celebrities nor notorious. Nelson Linck recognized the historical value of a set of old photos she bought from an antique mall and began actively collecting others as she found them. These images reveal the previously unseen America of black folks as they moved through society, from not long after the Emancipation Proclamation to the birth of the Civil Rights movement. As If We Weren't There, the exhibition comprising a trove of more than 300 photographs, opens with a public reception at 7 p.m. Friday, February 1, at Christ Church Cathedral (1210 Locust Street; 314-231-3454 or www.christchurchcathedral.us); there's a $10 suggested donation to attend. The photographs remain on display daily through Thursday, February 28, and admission is free during that time. To see more of the photos, visit site.handsonblackhistorymuseum.com.
Feb. 1-28, 2013