Not all images of resistance contain protest signs. In fact, symbols of defiance can be remarkably quiet, as with a set of photographs from 1890s Wilmington, North Carolina. In lace and gabardine, cravats and crinolines, African Americans in the state’s then-largest city used photos to record their success within a society still circumscribed by white supremacy. 

It was an instinct well-articulated by abolitionist Frederick Douglass, the most photographed man of the 19th century. “Pictures come not with slavery and oppression and destitution,” Douglass wrote about the role of photography in Black life, “but with liberty, fair play, leisure, and refinement. These conditions are now possible to colored American citizens.” 

In the battle against racist stereotypes, photographs were a weapon by which Black Wilmingtonians cultivated an alternative portrayal. The images couldn’t forestall a massacre and governmental overthrow perpetrated by white supremacists—but the photos nonetheless document a moment in which African Americans’ economic and social standing in the city was unmistakable.

Images from two families in particular tell the tale of a proud, Black Wilmington. The Sadgwar family were prominent builders in the city; the Manlys published Wilmington’s only Black-owned and -edited newspaper. Other notable Black North Carolinians also had portraits taken, leaving behind a record of their cultural and civic achievement. In these photographs, free from external derogatory perspectives, they could depict themselves as they wanted to be seen.

“Poets, prophets, and reformers are all picture-makers,” said Douglass, “and this ability is the secret of their power and of their achievements. They see what ought to be by the reflection of what is, and endeavor to remove the contradiction.”

To learn more about Black Wilmington—and the forces that conspired to destroy it—watch American Coup: Wilmington 1898.