MISSOURI STATE ARCHIVES
Progress Amidst Prejudice:
Portraits of African Americans in Missouri, 1880-1920

The Johnson Family:
What can a picture tell us?

Not much is known about the people in these four portraits. They came to us as a part of a large collection, and it was up to our Photograph Archivist to discover that four of the portraits seem to contain the same family, the Johnsons, at different ages.

Here is what we do know:

  1. The family is the Johnson family.
  2. The family appears to be made up of four people: a father, a son, and two daughters.
  3. These pictures were taken in Washington, Missouri.

Four Portraits

The rest of the history of this family is open to speculation. You will be asked to do just that on the accompanying worksheet. There is some history on which to base your speculation, and so before you complete your worksheet, review the Census Data Worksheet and the Fact Sheet.