Guide to the Photograph of African Americans at Pullman Saloon MC307

Language of Material: English

Contributing Institution: University of California, Davis Library, University Archives

Title: Photograph of African Americans at Pullman Saloon

Creator: Shaw, Herbert T.

Identifier/Call Number: MC307

Physical Description: 1 photographic print Image: 8.5 x 6.5 inches, mounted to 12 x 10 inch card Stamped imprint on recto below image

Date: circa 1905

Abstract: Group portrait of African Americans in the Pullman Saloon in Tonopah, Nevada.

Physical Location: Researchers should contact Archives and Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.

A group portrait of African Americans with 18 men, one woman, two young girls, and two dogs. Several of the gentlemen are smoking cigars and appear to be enjoying themselves. One man seated in the front row holds a puppy and a young girl with ribbons in her hair stands to his side with her hand on his knee. Charmingly, a darkcoated spaniel is seated on a chair in front of the group. The Pullman Saloon was the hub of African American social life in Tonopah, Nevada, a town established in 1900 following the discovery of silver and gold in the area. The group pictured here likely included a large number of the boomtown's Black residents. One of the sitters is wearing a Pullman porter uniform (seated, third from left), and given the name of the saloon, it is likely that a number of the other gentlemen pictured were Pullman porters as well. One of the proprietors of the saloon, Mr. Hall, was noted by the Tonopah Bonanza on August 24, 1907, to be the left-fielder of the Tonopah Pullman baseball team, an all-Black team which likely included some of the men pictured here. We are not aware of any other photograph from the period that shows African Americans posing in front of a Black-owned saloon in the American West. According to Mautz, the photographer Herbert T. Shaw was in Tonopah circa 1905.

[Description provided by Back of Beyond Books]

Collection is open for research.

Liz Phillips created this finding aid with information supplied by Back of Beyond Books.

Purchased from Back of Beyond Books, 2020.

[Identification of item], Photograph of African Americans at Pullman Saloon, MC307, Archives and Special Collections, UC Davis Library, University of California, Davis.

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