Photographs Depicting Industry and Daily Life in Selma, Alabama

Collection

Identifier: 2025-077

No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of six loose photo album pages containing approximately fifty-two black-and-white or sepia-toned gelatin silver photographs, each measuring around 3 x 3 inches. The images span the years 1902 to 1907 and document the life of a family in Alabama, likely connected to the Schuh-Miller Lumber Company in Selma. Early photographs depict industrial scenes including a log train, the company’s first office, and the lumber yard, suggesting the photographer may have been one of the company’s owners.

Subsequent images show domestic life, including children posed with African American maids and scenes of African American laborers working on railroads and gathered on Selma streets. One uncaptioned page features horse-drawn wagons and elephants, likely part of a traveling circus. A final page from 1907 documents the state funeral of Senator John Tyler Morgan, with captions identifying the hearse, Alabama National Guard, and Morgan’s grave site.

Dates

Creation: 1902 - 1907

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations. Due to the nature of certain archival formats, including digital and audio-visual materials, access to certain materials may require additional advance notice.

Conditions Governing Use

Researchers are responsible for using the materials in conformance with United States copyright law as well as any donor restrictions accompanying the materials. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any copyright claimants in collection materials. Copyright for official University records is held by The University of Alabama. The library claims only physical ownership of many manuscript collections. Anyone wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of literary property rights or copyrights. Please contact Special Collections (archives@ua.edu) with questions regarding specific manuscript collections.

For more information about copyright policy, please visit: https://www.ua.edu/copyright/. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals without the consent of those individuals may have legal implications, for which the University of Alabama assumes no responsibility.

Biographical / Historical

The Schuh-Miller Lumber Company was active in Selma, Alabama, during the early 1900s, a period marked by industrial expansion and racial segregation in the American South. Selma, a key site in Alabama’s economic and political history, was home to both white-owned businesses and a large African American labor force. The photographs reflect the complex social dynamics of the Jim Crow era, including the roles of African Americans in domestic service and manual labor.

Senator John Tyler Morgan, whose funeral is documented in this collection, was a prominent Alabama politician and Confederate general. His legacy is intertwined with post-Reconstruction policies and racial segregation. The inclusion of his funeral in the album suggests the phtographer's family political or civic engagement. The presence of African American subjects throughout the album, both in labor and domestic contexts, offers valuable insight into race relations and everyday life in the South during this period.