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Museum object · Photographs and Still Images

Untitled (Preparing for Birth)

1952; printed 2005

Albany, Dougherty County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America

COLLECTION RECORDImage not availableExplore the catalog description and source record.
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Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

Black and white image of Mary Coley and Martha Sapp arranging items on a bed. On the left side of the image Sapp, seen in profile, wearing a plaid patterned dress. She is seen smiling at the other woman as her proper right side faces the camera. Her hands are resting on the edge of the bed frame. Coley stands right of center, in the upper half of the image, holding folded cloths in her hands. She wears a pin striped dress with short sleeves and has a dark colored hat perched on the back of her head. Hanging off her proper right shoulder hangs a white cloth. In front of the women on the bed are stacks of cloths, towels, and other unidentified pieces of clothing. The bed is covered in a light-colored Irish Chain quilt.

Sources & collection details

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture — original record ↗

Source collection ↗

Catalog metadata · CC0 · Source checked 2026-10-13

Catalog reference: 2009.1.26

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