Love-Thornell Collection of Black American Photographs, Circa 1850-1950
Collection context
Summary
- Extent:
- 43 Boxes
- 39 Photograph Binder Boxes
- 1 Hollinger Box
- 2 Oversize Print Boxes
- 1 Box (irregular size)
- 13 Books
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
The Love-Thornell Collection of Black American Photographs, AARLCC Special Collections, Broward County Library.
Background
- Scope and content:
The Love-Thornell Collection of Black American Photographs contains over 1300 photographs including cabinet cards, tintypes, daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, stereotypes, cartes de visite and postcards documenting Black American life from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century. Jaquelyn Love-Thornell collected the photographs over a 15-year period.
- Biographical / historical:
Jacquelyn "Jacqui" Love Thornell was born on April 27, 1948 in the Liberty City neighborhood of Miami, Florida to parents Minnie Tysdale Love and Wyatt Love. Jacqui moved to Newark, New Jersey in the 7th grade and attended Trent State University after graduating from high school. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education with minors in Math and Psychology. She worked as a teacher in a charter school in Massachusetts. She met and married her husband, Kwasi Thornell during graduate school. They have three daughters. Dr. Kwasi Thornell is a retired minister of the Presbyterian Church.
Jacqui worked as an assistant to the publisher for the Washington Post and the Miami Herald. She later became the Head of the Human Resources department at the Miami Herald. Jacqui left her position due to her health. For fifteen years, she collected memorabilia and photographs of African Americans from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century.
She began collecting photographs because, in her words, "I wanted to see photographs of everyday Black people. Because I knew that there were a lot of Black people going to work everyday and going to church and thriving, but we don't see a lot of those pictures. So I decided that I was going to focus on everyday people... The more I looked the more I found, and the more I found the more I bought."
- Acquisition information:
- Jaquelyn Love-Thornell donated the materials to AARLCC Special Collections on November 15, 2021 (Accession AARLCC-2021.17).
- Processing information:
The Love-Thornell Collection of Black American Photographs received item level processing. This finding aid may be updated to reflect new descriptions as well as acquisitions to the collection.
Description of the items rely on an inventory provided by Jacqui Love-Thornell which includes description and item numbers for each photograph from 1-776. Gaps witihin this range reflect items not received by Broward County Library Special Collections. Items numbered after 776 were provided description by Broward County Library Special Collections staff.
- Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into eleven series: Series I. Photographs of Women, Series II. Photographs of Men, Series III. Photographs of Children, Series IV. Photographs of Couples and Families, Series V. Photographs of Celebrities, Series VI. Sports, Series VII. Military, Series VIII. Groups, Series IX. Printed Materials, Series X. Correspondence, and Series XI. Audio Visual Materials.
Children and Edcuation are a subseries of Series III. Photographs of Children, and Scrapbooks and Photo Albums are a sub-series of Series IV. Photographs of Couples and Families.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
The Love-Thornell Collection of Black American Photographs is open for research.
- Preferred citation:
The Love-Thornell Collection of Black American Photographs, AARLCC Special Collections, Broward County Library.
- Location of this collection:
-
African American Research Library and Cultural Center, Broward County Library2650 Sistrunk BoulevardFort LauderdaleFL33311USA
