Delaware Historical Society>Emily Webb: 19th Century Photographer and Activist

Emily Webb: 19th Century Photographer and Activist

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Emily Webb: 19th Century Photographer and Activist

 
Marvel at the work of Emily Webb, one of the first women portrait photographers in Delaware, and let us tell you her story. From an assistant to her father and to the owner of her own photography studio, Webb mastered her craft through beautiful portraits of individuals, families with children, pets, and chickens. She opened her studio in 1864 at 302 market street in Wilmington (just a few blocks away from the Delaware Historical Society). Photographs by Emily Webb are part of the Delaware Historical Society’s Paul Preston Davis collection.
 

About the Paul Preston Davis Collection

 
Collecting Wilmington: Perspective, Place & Memory is the temporary exhibition currently on view at the Delaware History Museum. Located in the DeWees/Thornson Foundations Gallery on the second floor of the museum, Collecting Wilmington is a series of five exhibits highlighting objects from the Paul Preston Davis Collection.

 

Emily Webb: 19th Century Photographer and Activist is part of Speaking of Delaware…, a series of short videos presented by the Delaware Historical Society and produced by Short Order Production House. This series is funded in part by the Longwood Foundation, Delmarva Power, an Exelon Company, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and by a grant from Delaware Humanities, a state program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Primary Sources

A little child with curled hair wearing a long buttoned coat and hat
A little child with curled hair in a white dress with curly hair poses for the camera
A trade card featuring the profile of a chicken
imprint of business name and address with two cherubs

Emily Webb’s Photography from the Paul Preston Davis Collection

A group of African American women on the steps of a building
A male standing with one arm up with another person as his feet atop a pediment that says 'Emancipation'
A drawing of a woman standing by a car, pointing at something on the ground
An drawing of an elephant peeking around the corner, looking at a woman, who is casting a shadow on the wall as she bends down to retrieve an item on the floor
Yellow banner with block lettering in black
Flowers printed in yellow with the title of the document, also in yellow, across the front
A 'Vote for Suffrage' map with the words 'Woman Suffrage Wins!'
A clipping from a type-written document
A page from a document called 'Suffragist'
A group of women dressed in white, holding flags and items celebrating suffrage
A drawing of a person facing an elephant and other beings, with a carpet that reads '1920 / Campaign'
A drawing of a person sitting on a seat that says 'Man', with a being in the background who's saying, "Hello!", and on the ground is text that reads, 'Masculine Superior Plane'
people marching with banners
A drawing of a woman holding a rake with an elephant and donkey watching her over a stone wall.

Women’s Suffrage

Images from our Collections

Search Our Collections

An angled view of 4th and Market streets, with trollys and people navigating the streets
People lined up with books at a car that's serving as a mobile library
A person climbing into a plane
students along the wall of a pool, kicking their legs, with young children on the side, watching
A person in a black coat carrying a bag speaking with and looking down at an elderly woman
school students facing a building with an elephant behind two pillars
A man sitting on the back of a truck, holding a dog
A group of students in a room learning to sew
Two women in jackets and hats at the counter of Reynolds Candy Shop
A group of people loading cartons of food
A group of people loading cartons of food

Digital Collections

digital.dehistory.org

Additional Resources

Watch

Playlist: Speaking of Delaware…

Playlist: Women’s History

Visit

Visit the Delaware History Museum and Mitchell Center for African American Heritage

Journey to Freedom Exhibit at the Mitchell Center for African American Heritage

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