Blount Library Blog

Treasures from the Averett Archives: At the Edge of the Photograph...

One of my favorite things about working with archival materials is the opportunity to investigate the backgrounds and edges of photographs, looking at the content that was captured unintentionally.

Attached is one of my favorite examples from Averett's collections. Alumna Betty Lou Rector (class of 1946) donated numerous snapshots from her college years.  Many depict the May Day pageant of 1946, in which Betty took part as a member of the May Court.  The images are small and grainy, but they capture an event for which no other official photographs have survived in the archives.  One of these snapshots is included to the right: a sadly off-center image of a pantomime baseball performance included during that year's festivities (depicting, according to the May Day program, "the bitter struggle between [the] Senators and Red Sox for victory in the Out-of-the-world Series").

The 'big league' pantomime - riffing simultaneously on the All-American Girls Baseball League and the Majors - would be an interesting subject of study in itself.  (The real Red Sox and Senators, for example, were both in the American League and thus could never have met in a World Series.)  However, more interesting than the baseball shenanigans is the content tucked away in the upper center.  On the hill behind the action, and partially obstructed by trees, a small group of local African American citizens linger and watch the festivities (along with a few other passers by, and possibly a police officer).

Due to the graininess of the tiny images, the individuals cannot be identified. But, at that point in history, virtually the only place one would see a Black face on Averett's campus was either on the maintenance crew or the kitchen staff.

These snapshots are thus an amazing bit of serendipity, as they provide 11 extremely rare examples of both Black and White faces captured within the same camera frame.

Below are two blow-ups of the group, forever preserved by accident.