Source archive Tier A
Russell Lee, "Headquarters of Mound Bayou Foundation, Mound Bayou, Mississippi" (1939)
Russell Lee, "Headquarters of Mound Bayou Foundation, Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Only all-Negro town in this section," January 1939. Call number LC-USF33- 011948-M1 [P&P] LOT 1640. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives.
Custody docket
- Record
- loc-mound-bayou-foundation-headquarters-1939
- Type
- archive
- Trust tier
- A
- Status
- published
Sources are graded A (primary) / B (secondary academic) / C (secondary journalism) / D (tertiary or contested). See the manifesto’s Evidence Standard for full criteria.
The town’s own institution, and the federal caption that measures it against its neighbors.
Rights verified 2026-07-31 against the LOC JSON API. Public domain, FSA/OWI Black-and-White Negatives. Credit line as recorded on the item.
The filed title runs: “Headquarters of Mound Bayou Foundation, Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Only all-Negro town in this section.”
Read the second sentence. The photograph is of a building belonging to the town’s own foundation — self-government, in an office, with a door. The caption immediately reframes it as a regional anomaly. Only. In this section. The record cannot photograph the institution without ranking its rarity.
Pairs directly with loc-mound-bayou-home-of-resident-1939, whose caption performs the same move in four words.
⚠️ Period term Negro is the document’s; reproduce in citation only.
Provenance
- Creator
- Lee, Russell, 1903-1986, photographer
- Published
- 1939
- Accessed
- 2026-07-31
- External record
- https://www.loc.gov/item/2017738797/
Cited by
No published file currently cites this source.
Theme custody
No theme record references this source.