This photograph is emotionally moving and it elicits a story that we tell ourselves. Most people will likely see it as a story about a grandmother and her grandchildren. Grandma has a tight loving grasp around the waist of her youngest granddaughter while the older granddaughter clings to grandma’s shoulder for security. This is a portrait of a tight knit family. The little girls are adorable. They are wearing bows in their hair; and both girls are wearing necklaces. It is difficult to tell for sure, but grandma seems to be containing a smile. The girls however, seem a bit bewildered by their experience of being photographed. Grandma was not living in easy times. At the time of this photograph, slavery had already ended but prejudice and discrimination was prevalent. There is dearth of early photographs of African American individuals and families. This image certainly serves a role in representing African American history. Unfortunately, the photographer and subjects of this image are unidentified.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 
If we only knew their names…
I left a comment earlier about this image. Does anyone know what the strings are on the little girl’s hands are? Cat cradle?
There’s nothin sweeter than a grandmother’s love when you’re a child.
This picture must have been from the mid 1800’s or earlier. This look like a style of African jewelry. And today they wear the jewelry this way like it is a new style :-). I know they were also using ten type photos but you can obviously tell that this is a early American photo. I also wish that we knew who these three beautiful people are. And grandma look like she can cook too 🙂 . Hats off to you 3 beautiful people !!!!!!!!!!