Portrait of Loretta Peters, Eddie Jefferson, Josephine Irvin, Marion Bell

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.

Martha Olson graduated from Northwestern University with her B.A. in Art in 1969, and within a year, she was working more than 800 miles away as the girls’ physical education teacher at Marion High School in Columbia, Mississippi. It was the first year of integration in Mississippi public schools. During that time, Olson photographed local students, their relatives, and other residents of Marion County, which she later compiled into a series entitled, "Marion County Mississippi: 1970-1971." A black and white photograph of (from left to right), Loretta Peters, Eddie May Jefferson, Josephine Irvin, Marion Allen Bell. The four are seated together holding pom-poms. Peters and Bell look at the camera, while Jefferson and Irvin look away. Other kids are seated and are visible in the background. The photograph is mounted to a paper frame. [Loretta Peters, Eddie Mae (sic) Jefferson, Josephine Irvin, Marion Allen / 1970 / Martha Olson] is handwritten in pencil on the interior frame below the photograph. The photograph is attached to the paper frame by plastic photograph corners. On the back of the photograph are handwritten inscriptions identifying the subject, date, and photographer.

Catalog date

1970

Recorded places

Marion County, Mississippi, United States, North and Central America

Recorded subjects

African American; American South; Communities; Education; Photography; Youth

Explore Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture ↗