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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Congo

Congo.

Cigarette card, 1889

Coins of All Nations (Duke's Cigarettes)

George Arents Collection, The New York Public Library. "Congo." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1850 - 1959. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-34f3-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Barnego chiefs; showing their emaciated condition

Barnego chiefs; showing their emaciated condition.

Photograph from Red rubber; the story of the rubber slave trade flourishing on the Congo in the year of grace, 1906

Nassau Print (Publisher)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. "Barnego chiefs; showing their emaciated condition" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1906. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-f44e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Mfutila, the late King of Kongo, succeeded his father at San Salvador in 1892.

Mfutila, the late King of Kongo, succeeded his father at San Salvador in 1892..

Photograph from George Grenfell and the Congo: a history and description of the Congo Independent State and adjoining districts of Congoland, Volume 1, 1908

Hutchinson & Co. (Publisher)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. "Mfutila, the late King of Kongo, succeeded his father at San Salvador in 1892." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1908. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-fc6d-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Bapulula, a pilot on the mission steamer 'Peace' [A Mongata man recruited after Grenfell's first voyage.]

Bapulula, a pilot on the mission steamer 'Peace' [A Mongata man recruited after Grenfell's first voyage.].

Photograph from George Grenfell and the Congo: a history and description of the Congo Independent State and adjoining districts of Congoland, Volume 1, 1908

Hutchinson & Co. (Publisher)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. "Barnego chiefs; showing their emaciated condition" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1906. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47df-f44e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

A typical Duala gentlemen of the olden time [about 1874], Shark Dido, Dido Town, Cameroons, son of the Chief Dido herein referreed to.

A typical Duala gentlemen of the olden time [about 1874], Shark Dido, Dido Town, Cameroons, son of the Chief Dido herein referreed to..

Photograph from George Grenfell and the Congo: a history and description of the Congo Independent State and adjoining districts of Congoland, Volume 1, 1908

Hutchinson & Co. (Publisher)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. "A typical Duala gentlemen of the olden time [about 1874], Shark Dido, Dido Town, Cameroons, son of the Chief Dido herein referreed to." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1908. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-fb76-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Bolumbi, a fireman on B.M.S.S. 'Goodwill' a typical Bangala type.

Bolumbi, a fireman on B.M.S.S. 'Goodwill' a typical Bangala type.

Photograph from George Grenfell and the Congo: a history and description of the Congo Independent State and adjoining districts of Congoland, Volume 1, 1908

Hutchinson & Co. (Publisher)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Jean Blackwell Hutson Research and Reference Division, The New York Public Library. "A typical Duala gentlemen of the olden time [about 1874], Shark Dido, Dido Town, Cameroons, son of the Chief Dido herein referreed to." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1908. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-fb76-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99