
A True Likeness
The Black South of Richard Samuel Roberts, 1920-1936
University of South Carolina Press
Will be published approx. on 30. July 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
208 pages
978-1-64336-016-4 (ISBN)
Description
A True Likeness showcases the extraordinary photography of Richard Samuel Roberts (1880-1935), who operated a studio in Columbia, South Carolina, from 1920 to 1935. He was one of the few major African American commercial photographers working in the region during the first half of the twentieth century, and his images reveal the social, economic, and cultural realities of the black South and document the rise of a small but significant southern black middle class.
The nearly two hundred photographs in A True Likeness were selected from three thousand glass plates that had been stored for decades in a crawl space under the Roberts home. The collection includes ""true likenesses"" of teachers, preachers, undertakers, carpenters, brick masons, dressmakers, chauffeurs, entertainers, and athletes, as well as the poor, with dignity and respect and an eye for character and beauty.
Thomas L. Johnson and Phillip C. Dunn received a 1987 Lillian Smith Book Award for their work on this book. This new edition of A True Likeness features a new foreword by Elaine Nichols, the supervisory curator of culture at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. A new afterword is provided by Thomas L. Johnson.
The nearly two hundred photographs in A True Likeness were selected from three thousand glass plates that had been stored for decades in a crawl space under the Roberts home. The collection includes ""true likenesses"" of teachers, preachers, undertakers, carpenters, brick masons, dressmakers, chauffeurs, entertainers, and athletes, as well as the poor, with dignity and respect and an eye for character and beauty.
Thomas L. Johnson and Phillip C. Dunn received a 1987 Lillian Smith Book Award for their work on this book. This new edition of A True Likeness features a new foreword by Elaine Nichols, the supervisory curator of culture at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. A new afterword is provided by Thomas L. Johnson.
More details
Edition
With a New Afterword by Thomas L. Johnson edition
Language
English
Place of publication
South Carolina
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 302 mm
Width: 254 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
1315 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-64336-016-4 (9781643360164)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Thomas L. Johnson | Phillip C. Dunn
A True Likeness
The Black South of Richard Samuel Roberts, 1920-1936
E-Book
07/2019
1st Edition
University of South Carolina Press
€24.49
Available for download
Persons
Tholmas L. Johnson, now retired, was a career field archivist with the University of South Carolina's South Caroliniana Library. An award-winning author and editor, he serves as a life member on the board of governors of the South Carolina Academy of Authors.
Phillip C. Dunn, chair and Louise Fry Scudder Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of South Carolina, is an award-winning author and photographer living on the western banks of Chesapeake Bay.
Phillip C. Dunn, chair and Louise Fry Scudder Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of South Carolina, is an award-winning author and photographer living on the western banks of Chesapeake Bay.