Lina Scott family photographs

Collection

Identifier: NCC-0163

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collections consists of several formal portraits taken of family members around the turn of the 20th century at different portraits studios in Durham, North Carolina. Only one of the portraits is dated, with October 15, 1899, written on the back. Based on the style of dress in the images, all the portraits are likely from the same era. Also in the collection are a folder of family history research and correspondence with the donor.

Dates

1899, undated

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

There are no restrictions on the use of this material except where previously copyrighted material is concerned. It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain all permissions.

Biographical / Historical

The Scotts were a middle class family whose time in the area predates the establishment of Durham, based on census records. According to the 1900 census, the family lived at 106 Holloway Street in Durham, which would have been around the time most of the portraits were taken. Paulina (Lina) Scott, who gave the photographs to the donor's aunt, took over taking care of the family after her mother's death. She and her sisters worked as cigarette packers in the tobacco factories in Durham. Lina was also the aunt of Clinton W. Toms, who served as superintendent of Durham schools from 1894 to 1897.

Several Durham portrait studios are represented among the photographs in the collection, including Cole & Holladay, Brown, Thomas & Hobgood, Hitchcock Studios, and Shelburn. The photographs are a good representation of a family in Durham's style of dress in the late 1800s and early 1900s.