Mrs Della Powell, 1894
Carroll, Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, USA
silver print

 

A silver gelatin print showing an elderly black woman identified on the reverse of the mount as Mrs Della Powell. An inked inscription reads: 'Mrs Della Powell. Mother died 1894 / of Mrs Lillie Powell. Mother died July 10, 1935 / of Mrs Hazel Lyden Henderson.'

The 1880 census shows a Della Powell living in Friendship, Crockett County, Tennessee, close to the Arkansas border. Born in 1840, at the time of the census she was working on a farm. She was unmarried, but she had at least six children, including Lillie, born in 1876. Della was born in Tennessee, as were her parents before her.

Photographed by Carroll of Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, identified by a blindstamp on the mount.

The print measures 4.9” by 3.4” (12.3 cm by 8.5 cm) and is mounted on a slighted larger piece of stained Bristol board.