Ascension and Regression

The Faces of the New Black Middle Class (1890-1930)

Ascension and Regression

The late 19th and early 20th-century images shared in this exhibit reflect the aspirations, hopes, and embodiments of life post-emancipation.

Independence and stability opened the door to ascension from bondage to a class of intellectuals, businessmen, and middle-class citizens.

These images represent a fresh and optimistic “middle passage.”

Though a residue of skepticism often surfaced, and fear of retrenchment loomed, the examples of politicians, soldiers, artists, writers, and musicians fueled lore, song, and hope.

The Renaissance was around the corner…

In 2017, Goodwood received approximately 40 prints of photographs from the Meek-Eaton Black Archives at Florida A&M University. The images were from a photographic collection once owned by Paine College in Augusta, Georgia, and today are housed at the Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center and Museum of Florida A&M University.

These photographs depict African American citizens at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries – nameless in history – but clearly portray a rise from the tragedy of enslavement to the hard-earned privileges of the middle class.

These prints were displayed briefly at Goodwood with limited access by the public, and then safely placed in storage.

In 2024, The Florida Humanities Council awarded a grant to Goodwood Museum & Gardens to support the development and execution of a project entitled “Ascension and Regression: The Black Middle Class, 1890 – 1930”. It is thanks to this grant that Goodwood has set this project to be on display in public galleries in multiple counties in the Florida Panhandle.

The poetry that accompanies these images was written by Bleu Bell, Terrel Fox, Linney Osias, and Simone Grier, members of Florida A&M University’s Voices Poetry Group.

This traveling exhibit is currently at the Tallahassee City Hall gallery, orchestrated by COCA.