Boudoir cabinet card of convict laborers at Swannanoa Cut

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.

A sepia tone boudoir photograph card of a group of convict laborers at Swannanoa Cut, Asheville, North Carolina. Captured by T. H. Lindsey, and part of Lindsey’s “Views” series, the image depicts men wearing hats and striped jumpsuits standing in a line with an in-progress rail track in front of them and sheer cliffs behind them. They hold lunch pails, tin dishes, and shovels. Two armed guards stand down the track on the right of the photograph. Several shovels stick out of the rocky ground on the right of the photograph. At the bottom of the photograph, a white ink caption reads: ["613. Convicts in Line at Swannanoa Cut]. Captioning along the card mount, in black ink, from left to right, read: [LINDEY’S VIEWS OF WESTERN N. C. / ROUND KNOB AND VICINITY / PUBLISHED BY T. H. LINDSEY, ASHEVILLE, N. C.].

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