Counter-Archives in
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Duke’s Cigarette Cards
Coins of All Nations, 1889

Case Study #1: Curation

The curated selection of photographs, prints, and drawings for each nation are chosen from the NYPL Digital Collection by doing a keyword search for the nation featured on the cigarette card. Results are narrowed down to the decades preceding and following 1889, the year Duke’s Cigarette Cards, Coins of All Nations was released.
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  • Do the curated materials share visual characteristics with the cigarette card? How are they different?
  • What is the point of view of the curated materials? What narratives are presented?
  • Does seeing the curated materials offer an alternative impression of the caricature on the cigarette card?
  • How might these images have influenced Americans’ idea of people from this nation?
  • Choose a card and create your own set of curated materials using the NYPL Digital Collections.

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Brazil

Brazil.

Cigarette card, 1889

Coins of All Nations (Duke's Cigarettes)

George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library. "Brazil." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 1959. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-34e9-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Brazilian Negro workers in diamond - mining excavations; Lenções district, Eastern Brazil.

Brazilian Negro workers in diamond - mining excavations; Lenções district, Eastern Brazil.

Photograph from The Negro in the New World, 1910

Johnston, Harry Hamilton, Sir, 1858-1927 (Author)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. "Brazilian Negro workers in diamond - mining excavations; Lenções district, Eastern Brazil." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1910. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-88b7-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Portrait of a woman, Bahia, Brazil

Portrait of a woman, Bahia, Brazil.

Photograph, 1880

Ferrez, Marc, 1843-1923 (Photographer)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. "Portrait of a woman, Bahia, Brazil" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1880. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-3c7c-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Men shaking hands, Brazil

Men shaking hands, Brazil.

Cartes de visite, 1890 (Inferred)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. "Men shaking hands, Brazil" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1890. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-cbc8-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Barber and client, Brazil

Barber and client, Brazil.

Cartes de visite, 1890 (Inferred)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. "Barber and client, Brazil" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1890. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-cbc9-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Portraits of men, Brazil

Portraits of men, Brazil.

Cartes de visite, 1890 (Inferred)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. "Portraits of men, Brazil" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1890. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47db-cb8f-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99