Luther Hamilton Photo Collection

 Parade

  

 Portrait of two unidentified women

  

 Twins, ca. 1900

  

 Unidentified African Americans

  

Unidentified woman standing at water well

 

Source: Luther Hamilton Photo Collection

Luther Hamilton Photo Collection

 Barbershop

  

 Interior of small market

[The "V" makes me wonder if this is a World War II-era photo.]

  

Portrait photograph of unidentified woman and infant

  

 Twins, ca. 1900

  

W. E. Garland’s tomato packing shed

 

Source: Luther Hamilton Photo Collection

Luther Hamilton Photo Collection

 Street scene, E. Georgetown

 

 Street scene

  

 Tom Thumb wedding

  

 Tomato Festival Queen Barnett Messer, 1939

  

Unidentified men and women

 

Source: Luther Hamilton Photo Collection

Luther Hamilton Photo Collection

Black Nite Farm parade wagon

  

Chicken, eggs and kittens

  

Director Harry Rayburn and band, Crystal Springs High School, 1942

  

Interior of cafe

[I like their motto...and their prices!]

  

Lake Chautauqua tabernacle

 

Source: Luther Hamilton Photo Collection

Luther Hamilton Photo Collection

The Luther Hamilton Photograph Collection documents the life of a small southern town during the first half of the twentieth century through images of houses, stores, railroad stations, schools, sports teams, street scenes, parades, weddings, and more. A significant portion of the collection deals with agriculture, especially the farming and marketing of tomatoes and cabbage, and agrarian celebrations such as the annual Crystal Springs Tomato Festival.

The nearly 1,000 photographs were taken or collected by Luther Myles Hamilton, Sr., (1869-1944) of Crystal Springs, Mississippi, and his son, Luther Myles Hamilton, Jr. (1912-1994). Much of the collection is formal portrait photography taken in the father's studio, and includes town leaders Augustus Lotterhos, 'the Father of Crystal Springs,' and Bryant Wesley Matthis, 'the Cabbage King,' as well as people of various ages and races.

Cabbage field

  

Crystal Springs High School marching band and drum majorettes

  

Dick Burney’s rural delivery ice trucks. 1930

  

Four unidentified women

  

Tomato industry, 1933