Cherokee Woman, North Carolina

about 1929

Medium

Platinum print

Dimensions

20.3 × 15.2 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-566897

The provenance of this photograph suggests that it may have been part of Doris Ulmann's show at Alma Reed's Delphic Studios in 1929. An article in the February 1930 issue of *Theatre Arts Monthly*, essentially a review of the show, is illustrated with eight photographs, including a portrait of an elderly Catawba Indian. The *Theatre Arts* critic praises Ulmann's work as a reminder of "the richness and depth and variety of dramatic treasure to be found in the mountains and valleys of country districts." Ulmann worked with the Catawba tribe at their community near Rock Hill, South Carolina, and with the Cherokees on a reservation in western North Carolina, perhaps in the company of her friend the South Carolina writer Julia Peterkin (1880-1961). This occurred years before she made pictures for Allen Eaton's Handicrafts of the *Southern Highlands* (1937) ([https://primo.getty.edu](https://primo.getty.edu/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=GETTY_ALMA21140498420001551&context=L&vid=GRI&lang=en_US&search_scope=COMBINED&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=all_gri&query=any,contains,allen%20eaton&offset=0)). Like Eaton (1878-1962), Ulmann was also interested in the craft traditions of these…