Unique Photograph of African American Domestic Worker Holding White Infant.

Original Cabinet Card Photograph circa 1884 featuring an unknown African American woman tenderly caring for a white baby. The woman is quite handsome and clothed in a crisp natural form pinstripe bustle dress with matching pinafore apron and headscarf, her hair is graying. The baby she is holding is dressed in a long gown and lace top. The back of the card does not identify the Black woman but a penned notation states the child's age and initials, D.B.M. 3.5 months, [Dorothy B. Mann].

Hugh J. Brady, Photographer. Albumen print cabinet card. Size 6.5" x 4.25". VERY GOOD CONDITION: a unique image, sharp and bright. Printed on the verso: HJ BRADY Leading Photographer. COR MAIN and PARK STS. Orange N.J. Additional Copies Can Always Be Obtained And Instantaneous Portraits Of Children A Specialty

Hugh J. Brady (American, b. circa 1859) Professional Photographer whose studio and business were in Orange, New Jersey from about 1884 to 1910. His cabinet cards from 1884-1885 were printed with variations of Main Street, Corner of Park Avenue, Orange, NJ. In 1886 his business burned down "The photographic gallery of Hugh J. Brady, Main and Park streets, Orange, N. J., was destroyed by fire lately." (Anthony's Photographic Bulletin of 1886.) After rebuilding, his cabinet cards were printed with the street address 393 Main Street, Orange, NJ, from 1887 to 1910.

Interestingly, in 1880, 35% of married Black women and 73% of single Black women were in the labor force compared with only 7% of married white women and 24 % of single white women, most Black women were in low wage domestic service jobs. The legacy of Black women's employment in industries that lack worker protections continues today. The ongoing culling of the federal workforce reinforces this historic discrimination.