Offered here is an outstanding original 1908 press photograph documenting an African American baptism by immersion in the Ohio River, with period editorial markings from Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly and copyright stamps of the Judge Company. The photograph captures a remarkable community scene. In the foreground, an African American minister stands waist-deep in the Ohio River beside a convert, raising one hand as he prepares to perform the baptism. Along the riverbank, a large crowd of men, women and children has gathered to witness the ceremony, filling the shoreline and a substantial stone retaining wall. The image conveys the public and communal character of early African American river baptisms, an important part of Black Baptist and Protestant religious life during the early twentieth century. Adding considerable transportation and river-history interest is the sternwheel steamer visible in the background. The vessel is clearly identified on its stern as the BLANCHE CUTTER – PITTSBURG. Contemporary records confirm that the Blanche Cutter was an Ohio River steamer; a 1910 Cincinnati directory identifies George Graves as master of the steamer Blanche Cutter. The vessel is shown alongside a large flat barge, with a small rowboat floating nearby, giving the photograph additional appeal to collectors of Ohio River, steamboat and inland-waterway history. The reverse contains an original handwritten editorial caption reading, in period terminology, “Negro Baptism in the Ohio river — The minister in sight of a fervent crowd on shore, about to immerse one of a group of converts.” Also present is the purple stamp of the Leslie’s Weekly Editorial Department, Brunswick Building, 225 Fifth Avenue, New York, together with a Copyright Judge Company, 1908 marking. Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly was one of America’s major illustrated news publications, and the Judge Company was its publisher during this period. This is an especially evocative piece of African American religious history, Ohio River history, steamboat history and early American photojournalism, all brought together in a single image. The photograph is particularly desirable because the baptism itself, the watching congregation, the identified steamer and the original editorial provenance are all clearly documented. Of the thousands of photographs that have passed through my collection over the years, this image remains one of my absolute favorites.” SOLD
Leave a comment