In continuation of our celebration of National Women’s History Month, we are spotlighting photographer Bayard Wootten. Wootten (1879-1959) was a feminist pioneer of the photographic arts and assisted in the creation of the Women’s Federation of the Photographer’s Association of America in 1909. Perhaps her most notable accomplishment was her creation of a photographic record of black and white Americans in the lower reaches of society- persons other photographers, and society in general, often ignored.
Only two of her images reside in our collection. The one shown above is entitled “Horse Traders” and is currently on display in our Women and the Cultural Record exhibit. The UNC Chapel Hill library holds a collection of Bayard Wootten photographs which can be viewed here.