Railroad Crossing Guard (Richmond, Virginia), from the project The Negro in Virginia

Robert McNeill, Railroad Crossing Guard (Richmond, Virginia), from the project The Negro in Virginia, 1938, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1993.72.3, © 1938, Robert McNeill
Robert McNeill, Railroad Crossing Guard (Richmond, Virginia), from the project The Negro in Virginia, 1938, gelatin silver print, sheet: 8 1210 in. (21.625.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1993.72.3, © 1938, Robert McNeill

Artwork Details

Title
Railroad Crossing Guard (Richmond, Virginia), from the project The Negro in Virginia
Date
1938
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
sheet: 8 1210 in. (21.625.4 cm)
Copyright
© 1938, Robert McNeill
Credit Line
Museum purchase
Mediums Description
gelatin silver print
Classifications
Subjects
  • Landscape — Virginia — Richmond
  • Occupation — service — guard
  • Architecture — industry — railroad yard
  • African American
  • Figure male
Object Number
1993.72.3

Artwork Description

McNeill was hired to take photographs for the publication The Negro in Virginia, one of more than a dozen undertakings on the subject of black life and history launched by the Federal Writers’ Project in the late 1930s. Using text by African American authors, interviews with former slaves, statistical surveys, and photographs, the project sought to dispel myths about slavery and focus attention on the contemporary lives of black Virginians. McNeill understood that editors aimed for a noncontroversial book. “What they wanted were pictures of people at work, pictures that would show the soul of people in their jobs…even for people in menial occupations…I tried to be as positive as I could.”


African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, 2012

Works by this artist (1036 items)

William H. Johnson, Young Pastry Cook, ca. 1928-1930, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.693
Young Pastry Cook
Dateca. 1928-1930
oil on canvas
On view
William H. Johnson, Portrait of a Man, ca. 1935-1938, oil on burlap, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.814
Portrait of a Man
Dateca. 1935-1938
oil on burlap
On view
William H. Johnson, Breakdown with Flat Tire, ca. 1940-1941, oil on plywood, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.587
Breakdown with Flat Tire
Dateca. 1940-1941
oil on plywood
On view
William H. Johnson, For India and China, ca. 1944-1945, oil on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation, 1967.59.662
For India and China
Dateca. 1944-1945
oil on paperboard
On view