Forgotten America: images reveal segregation in the Deep South and the 1960s poverty of Harlem
- The images were taken by photographer and film-maker Gordon Parks in California, Alabama and Harlem
- Parks, who was born in Kansas in 1912, was an author, poet and composer who worked for Life and Vogue
- These images have been released alongside new book titled I Am You which celebrates his pioneering work
- An exhibition titled Gordon Parks: Back to Fort Scott is on show at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
This extraordinary collection of images captures an America suffering from racial segregation and crippling poverty after the Second World War.
The images were taken by photographer and film-maker Gordon Parks in California, Washington D.C., Alabama and Harlem between 1940 and 1970.
They have been released alongside a new book titled I Am You which celebrates his pioneering work.
Photojournalist Parks, born in Kansas in 1912, was an author, poet and composer who worked for Life and Vogue.
He was the first African-American to produce and direct films, many of which related the experience of slaves and struggling black Americans.
Poverty: Some of Parks' work focussed on one family in Harlem. This photo is titled The Fontenelles at the Poverty Board and was taken in Harlem, New York in 1967
Struggle: This untitled photo, taken in Harlem, New York in 1948, shows a young African-American man cycling through a street where poor children wash with a hose
Sad: This photo called Children with Doll was taken in Washington, D.C. in 1942 and shows two young black children almost nude`
Contrast: Not all of Parks's work focussed on black poverty. This untitled photo of three women playing chess was taken in New York in 1958
Natural: This photo called Boy with June Bug was taken in Fort Scott, Kansas in 1963. The boy lies peacefully in the grass with a beetle on his head
Having a blast: This untitled photo, taken in Alabama in 1956 shows two black boys playing with a white boy outside a house
Fashion: Parks also worked on glamour photo shoots. This photo is called Models with Boy-Length Haircuts and was taken in New York in 1949
Riches: This photo called Jeweled Cap was taken in Malibu, California in 1958. It shows a woman in A bathing suit with a ruby in her hat
Political: Parks liked to engage with political and racial issues. This photo called Malcolm X Holding Up Black Muslim Newspaper was taken in Chicago, Illinois in 1963
Family: This photo is called Mr. and Mrs. Albert Thornton and was taken at their home in Mobile, Alabama in 1956
Pioneer: Photojournalist Parks, born in Kansas in 1912, was an author, poet and composer who worked for Life and Vogue. Pictured: An untitled photo of a family believed to have been taken in Harlem in the 1940s
Gordon Parks was the first African-American to produce and direct films, many of which related the experience of slaves and struggling black Americans
Incredible pictures capture the everyday life of African Americans in Jim Crow-era Nebraska
Incredible pictures capture the everyday life of African Americans in Jim Crow-era Nebraska
- Amateur photographer John Johnson took hundreds of pictures of the African American and immigrant communities in Lincoln, Nebraska, in the early 1900s
- The pictures were taken during the New Negro Movement, which preceded the Harlem Renaissance, as a way to give a voice to African Americans in a time of segregation and oppression
- During that time, African Americans were often photographed in big cities, but Johnson documented the lives of people in the rural Midwest
- Historians know Johnson took at least 500 photographs, though not all the subjects have been identified
- A set of 280 of Johnson's negatives were discovered by budding photographer Doug Keister who is trying to identify the remaining people in the pictures
This incredible set of antique glass negatives gives a rare glimpse into the everyday life of early 20th century African Americans and immigrants in the Midwest. The photographic negatives are part of a wider collection of 280 photographs that capture the dignity of Lincoln, Nebraska’s minority communities from 1910-1925, with wedding and family photos, individual portraits and pictures of pets.During that time, the New Negro Movement was moving across the country, giving African Americans a voice and an opportunity to speak for themselves in an otherwise stifled and segregated time in American history. Jim Crow laws prevented African Americans from using the same facilities or having the same opportunities that other Americans had, like jobs and housing. The New Negro Movement, which preceded the Harlem Renaissance, was mostly documented in big cities, with portraits being taken in more professional studios.But in Lincoln, African American photographer John Johnson did something different with his photographs. Instead of taking people to professional studios, Johnson met them where they were, taking portraits on front porches and inside homes.Johnson worked as a janitor at Lincoln's post office and courthouse, but even as an amateur, Johnson took beautiful photos that dignified and respected his family, friends and community. Today, Johnson’s photography gives a rare view into the empowerment of African Americans and immigrants across the country, not just in large cities.
From 1910-1925 amateur photographer John Johnson (right) took hundreds of photographs of the African American and immigrant communities in Lincoln, Nebraska. Johnson married Odessa Price (left) on August 20, 1918. She was 27 and he was 39. This is believed to be their wedding portrait and someone would have helped Johnson trigger his camera's shutter. John went to Lincoln High School and was a member of the track team. He graduated in 1899 and briefly attended the University of Nebraska where he played football. He worked as a janitor at the post office and courthouse in Lincoln, but also did work as a laborer and drayman (someone who delivers beer for a brewery). Johnson and his wife died within months of each other in 1953
Johnson is known to have taken at least 500 photographs. Among those portraits, Johnson captured images of his friends and family, including his mother, Margaret Johnson, pictured. Margaret was born in Mississippi in 1854, probably in slavery, and died in Lincoln in 1926. She is pictured in front of Johnson's house
Doug Keister, pictured, discovered the box of 280 glass negatives when he was 17 in 1965. He bought them from a friend because he was just learning photography and he needed practice making prints. Today he is 68 and is still trying to identify Johnson's photographsBudding photographer and high school student Doug Keister, then 17, found those glass negatives in 1965. He bought the box of negatives from a friend so he could practice making prints.There are currently 60 of those negatives on display at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of African American History and Culture, which they acquired in 2012 and which DailyMail.com is publishing. Today Doug is 68 and a professional photographer and writer. For years and with the help of Nebraska historians, he has been trying to identify the people in the portraits.‘These are images of great dignity and great hope,’ Doug told DailyMail.com. ‘They’re so important because they are showing there was a time of great hope.’As African Americans moved out of the South after the Civil War, Lincoln, Nebraska became home to a small community of African Americans. By 1900 Lincoln had a population of 40,000, with about 1,000 African Americans. At the time there was also a significant community of Russian-German immigrants who came to Lincoln.Despite its distance from the South, Jim Crow laws, stereotypes and segregation were still present in Nebraska. African Americans were limited in their housing options and their job opportunities and interracial marriage was illegal. There was even a significant KKK presence in Lincoln.Undeterred by those obstacles, Johnson took hundreds of photographs of the African American and immigrant neighborhoods from 1910-1925. He documented the everyday life of those communities and took photographs that showed the subjects as dignified and ennobled citizens.‘It’s a glimpse of a small community within a small city in the Midwest... It’s hard to match,’ said Lincoln Nebraska’s Historic Preservation Planner Ed Zimmer.Doug added: ‘To have these photographs in Lincoln, Nebraska, that are ennobling environmental portraits is extraordinary. Sometimes you’ll find pictures from that era, but they’re usually places like New York or Washington, D.C., maybe Chicago, maybe some other places, but usually big cities. You do not see things like this from America’s heartland.‘It’s wonderful. This is a period of - I used to say this is African American history. No, this is American history. I think that’s one of the things we need to say. That this is not just African American, this is the history of America. And the inclusion and people uplifting themselves - it’s an American story.’ 
Margaret moved in with her son after her husband Harrison died in 1900. She was a prim and proper lady, according to 95-year-old Ruth Folley in 2001. Ruth was photographed by Johnson in 1914 and knew some of the subjects of Johnson's rediscovered negatives. Margaret is pictured in front of Johnson's home
When Doug bought the prints from a friend in 1965 they cost $15 (about $115 today), which he paid in monthly installments. His friend found them through a want-ad in the newspaper and gave them to Doug because he was just learning photography.
He used the 5x7 negatives to make his first-ever prints in a makeshift darkroom in his parents’ basement, but didn’t do much else with them. As he got older he kept the heavy box of negatives, even taking them with him when he moved to California.
Years later at Lincoln’s Planning Department, Ed Zimmer had a graduate student intern, Kathy Colwell, now Kathy Colwell Hill, who was interested in doing her master’s work on historic African American sites in Lincoln.
Near the end of her research in 1999, Colwell had a lead for a box of 36 glass negatives that were found in a woman’s closet. Though she didn’t have time to include the photographs in her research, Colwell passed the lead onto the photo historian at the Nebraska State Historical Society.
Later that year, Doug received a letter from his mother with a newspaper clipping from the Lincoln Journal Star. The article was about the negatives that had been found through Colwell’s research.
When Doug saw the pictures in the newspaper clipping, he realized the style and locations of those photographs were the same as the ones he had found in 1965 and quickly got in touch with Zimmer.
At the time, the photographer was still unknown, though they believed the pictures were taken by Earl McWilliams. In 2001 they discovered the photographer was actually John Johnson after they spoke with a 95-year-old woman named Ruth Talbert Greene Folley who was actually in one of the photographs as a young girl with her family in 1914.
Ruth knew both McWilliams and Johnson and remembered sitting for Johnson to do the portrait. In an interview with historians, Ruth confirmed: 'Mr Johnny Johnson took our picture.'
Johnson's wife Odessa was from Kansas City, Kansas. She is pictured on their porch swing in Lincoln wearing what could be her wedding ensemble and reading the Ladies Home Journal from August of 1918, when she was married. Odessa worked at Lincoln's Hardy Furniture Company
With this picture, Johnson experimented with exposure, capturing the three subjects of the picture twice each, making it look like there are six people. Though two of the people in this photograph are unknown, Johnson's wife Odessa is the woman who standing on the farthest left and sitting in the middle of the image
Once Zimmer knew the photographer, identifying the people and places in the pictures got a bit easier because ‘the knowledge keeps building on itself’.
What is essential for Zimmer in sharing the photographs is being able to tell the stories behind them.
‘I’m trying to make sure we know as much about the individual as we can,’ he said. ‘Without knowing more of the context, you could get the story wrong. You need a historical piece to go with it to understand Johnson – it’s a much richer and more important story… Even the beauty of the picture can distract you from what’s the true story of the picture.’
But Zimmer added that photographs can trick people and give the wrong impression simply because of when we live today.
‘You look with 21st century eyes, not with 1910 eyes.’
For example, even John Johnson’s life is important in telling the story of the photographs and the New Negro Movement. Zimmer doesn’t think Johnson was specifically trying to be a part of the movement, but instead was simply trying to dignify his neighbors and friends.
The son of a Civil War veteran and a hotel cook, Johnson was a janitor and an amateur photographer with an excellent eye for pictures in environmental settings.
Unlike many studio portraits during the New Negro Movement, Johnson photographed the African American and immigrant communities in Lincoln on their front porches, in their yards and even inside their homes.
Aside from their unique locations, Zimmer said Johnson used excellent technique for his photographs.
The composition and poses also show how comfortable people were with Johnson who was ‘carefully arranging the subjects to show their strength and dignity in an artistic form’, Zimmer said.
Johnson photographed Luther and Ida Allen, center, on their wedding day in 1912. Luther (1885-1969) was a prominent member of Lincoln's Prince Hall Masons and worked as a chauffeur for the Lincoln Star newspaper publisher. Luther was also among the black leaders from Omaha and Lincoln in 1929 who met with the governor to alleviate tensions after a racial incident in North Platte. His wife Ida (1887-1983) was the daughter of Reverend George Maston and worked as a maid at the Miller and Paine store. The newlyweds are pictured at their home, 828 B Street, in Lincoln
In their years of research, Zimmer and Doug have found information about many of the photographs and their subjects, but there is still so much they don't know.
So far, Zimmer knows of 500 of Johnson’s photographs, whether negatives or prints. but Zimmer said ‘there’s no reason to think that’s the total’. And as they discover more information about the photographs, sometimes more prints or negatives will come forward.
Doug said: ‘It’s like a treasure hunt. And any treasure hunt there’s moments of great frustration because you go, oh, just one more little piece… This has been a 50 year journey for me. It’s been pretty incredible. It’s kind of like the antiques roadshow – except it takes 50 years.’
Doug also compared the project to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. And Zimmer agreed.
‘It doesn’t stop,’ Zimmer said. ‘It feels like it has significance… It’s been very satisfying to work with.’
As the two men continue to find the stories behind the negatives, they each have different hopes for the message that the photographs will bring.
As Lincoln becomes more diverse, Zimmer hopes the photographs will remind residents of Lincoln’s deep history of accepting immigrants and African Americans.
And Doug hopes that in a time of political turmoil, the photographs will remind Americans of a more uplifting time.
‘With the way the country is going now, it’s like going backwards again because there’s all this divisiveness… I’m hoping people will get energized by seeing these images. That’s my hope.’
The Talbert family, pictured, came to Lincoln in 1913 from Guthrie, Oklahoma. Reverend Albert W. Talbert, far left, served as a minister until 1920. His wife Mildred, or Millie, far right, worked as a hairdresser to help Ruth, front center, as she went through Lincoln High School and went on to earn a two-year teaching certification from the University of Nebraska in 1926. The family, including Ruth's brother Dakota, rear center, is pictured in front of the Newman Methodist Episcopal Church at 733 J Street in 1914. Albert was 55, Millie was 40, Dakota was 16 and Ruth was 8. Though this glass negative was a part of Doug Keister's discovered collection, Ruth Talbert, who went on to become Ruth Folley, kept an original print of the portrait. She is the one who, at 95, identified John Johnson as the photographer of the pictures
Ruth's brother, Dakota Talbert was born in Fort Scott, Kansas, in 1898. When he was 15 his family moved to Lincoln. During World War I, Dakota served in the army in France. He is pictured sitting on a concrete wall that may have been part of a bridge in Lincoln
Dakota, pictured, worked several other jobs including as an elevator operator, shoe shiner, driver and cook for restaurants in Lincoln and Omaha
Dakota, left, is pictured sitting on a concrete wall with one of his friends, right. Dakota's sister Ruth identified the friend as most likely being Vernon Howard
Leona Dean was a hairdresser in downtown Lincoln, working for Minnie Davis, a white woman. Leona and her husband James (Jim) Dean are still remembered as leading members of their community. Leona is photographed reading a small book in the shade of this porch, which may have been at the house of William Cotton, who lived near Johnson and worked with him as a letter carrier at the post office
This is one of several portraits of Leona Dean with differing poses and accessories. In this image Leona is wearing a plumed hat and carrying a purse but in others she goes without. Leona's husband Jim worked at the Lincoln Country Club and provided part-time work waiting tables at the club, for African American men in Lincoln
This man is sitting on a stool in front of a backdrop, wearing a Masonic emblem attached to his lapel. He is believed to be Arthur Williams, who was listed as a laborer at the Oliver Theater in 1915. In 1920 he worked as a porter for the Lincoln Photo Supply Co. and in 1924 he worked as a laborer. He was married to a woman named Bona
These children are standing outside 715 C Street, the home of Cora and Alonzo 'Lon' Thomas. The couple had five children and ran a small grocery store out of the front room of this house. The four children on the left are Cora and Lon's children: Agnes, standing on the far left, Herschel sitting in the chair, baby Lonnie sitting in Herschel's lap and eldest son Wendell, standing behind. The boy on the right is most likely Lucius Knight, Cora's half brother. When Wendell got older, he worked various jobs in Lincoln as a waiter, a clerk, a porter, a laborer and a janitor. He eventually went on to found the Thomas Funeral Home in Omaha. At the far right of the frame, a small blonde girl is sitting on the steps
Though historians have done years of research, many of the people in the photographs are still unknown. The woman and boy pictured here in front of a backdrop are unidentified
Manitoba 'Toby' James is pictured with three of his five children: his eldest son Mauranee, on the far right and his daughters Myrtha, left, and Edna, center. Toby later had another daughter and another son. He worked as a waiter and porter in the 1900s and a cleaner in the 1910s and 1920s. He and his family moved around Nebraska for several years, but in the 1930s they moved to Oakland, California, where Toby owned Owl Cleaners. Toby died in 1951 in Oakland
Johnson sometimes included pets in family portraits. This baby and pet dog are unknown, but the baby's jacket suggests it was a chilly day when the portrait was taken
Eva O'Donnell was the daughter of James and Susan O'Donnell and was in a circle of card-playing friends who circulated to different homes to play canasta. The daughter of one of Eva's friends, Pamona Banks James, identified this portrait. Johnson chose to photograph Eva inside a home, instead of on a porch or in front of a backdrop
Historian Ed Zimmer said that discovering the history behind each of the photographs is incredibly important because by simply looking at a picture, viewers can get the story wrong. This unidentified, yet adorable baby is sitting in a woven chair and wearing a completely-knit outfit
The house pictured is 623 C Street in the neighborhood of Lincoln known as the South Bottoms. This area was primarily populated by German immigrants from Russia, but many African American families lived there as well, like the O'Donnells who lived at this house. James O'Donnell (1872-1930) was the owner of a lunch counter in downtown Lincoln
This photograph of a military encampment was most likely taken at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds in Lincoln because of the bleachers that can be seen in the background between the tents. Hundreds of men from Lincoln, and even some women, enlisted in the military during World War I. African American women in a Lincoln chapter of the Red Cross rolled bandages for wounded soldiers. Dozens of Lincoln volunteers died, including two women nurses. Several men in Lincoln's African American community enlisted into the military including Dakota Talbert. Two other African American soldiers from Lincoln, Horace Colley and Clinton Ross served as lieutenants
Manilla Jewett was a Lincoln High School graduate who worked as a theater usher. She is photographed wearing a modern shirtdress as she poses for her portrait
The three children with dark hair are siblings, children of Lebanese-born Alexander and Anise Zakem. James is holding the bike on the far left beside his younger sister Lillian. Their older sister Adeline is standing on the far left and the boy with blond hair in the middle was one of their playmates. The children were identified by James's son Jim in 1999 after he saw the photograph in Newsweek magazine. Jim's grandfather Alexander immigrated to Nebraska in the 1890s and moved to Nebraska around 1900 and married Anise. When she died, Alexander went back to Lebanon, remarried and came back to Nebraska in 1918 to join relatives who had settled there. Alexander operated restaurants in Lincoln and other small Nebraska communities
This house, 1821 South 16th Street, was the home of Julius and Tillie Miller in 1912 to 1913. Julius was listed as a glazier with a glass company and a laborer
Mamie Griffin was a cook married to Edward Griffin, a waiter at the Lincoln Hotel. They lived at 915 U Street in Lincoln, a house on a dirt street north of downtown and near railroad tracks. Mamie is pictured standing on her porch reading The Wife of Monte Cristo. It was a sequel, by a different author, to the Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas
Mamie Griffin is pictured sitting in a chair outside in front of a backdrop. She is posed with a copy of the romance novel, The Wife of Monte Cristo
The man and five women have not been identified, but Johnson chose a green background for this photograph. While the man's stance seems to be more formal, the women are standing and kneeling casually
This man in uniform has not been officially identified, though he may be Edward Shipman (1863-1921). The house number is 851, which correlates with the home of Edward and Clara Shipman at 851 University Avenue in Lincoln. Edward Shipman worked as a porter and stockman at different Lincoln paint companies. This man is standing outside 851 with a tuba and music attached. There were at least two African American bands in Lincoln around that time
This woman wearing a sheepskin jacket is also standing in front of the same house marked 851. It is possible she is Edward's wife Clara Shipman (1868-1919), who was born in West Virginia
In this picture, Johnson captures a picnic from someone's backyard. Johnson was sure to pose the ten picnickers and the pitbull terrier so that everyone can be seen. The benches have been angled out and it is suspected that the couple standing at the head of the table are the hosts
Johnson photographed these two women from the picnic, either before or after, with the pitbull terrier standing on the table
The identity of these two men have not been confirmed, though the address '2001' correlates with the home of George and Fronia Butcher at 2001 U Street. George is believed to be the man on the left. George worked as a porter for Chicago & Rock Island and as a laborer for Burlington Railroad in the Havelock Shops. George was born in Philadelphia in 1974 and died at the V.A. Hospital in Lincoln in 1958. His wife Fronia (1879-1979) lived to be 100 years old
Johnson photographed these schoolchildren in front of Lincoln High School, though the children in the front rows do not appear to be high school age, though some of the girls in the front row are holding piano music. The University of Nebraska and Lincoln's public schools were integrated, though the public schools did not hire an African American teacher until the 1950s
Johnson photographed Frances Hill (1904-1932) inside the home where she lived with John and Mabel Galbreath for most of the 1920s. Frances married Bert Taylor in 1929 or 1930 and they moved to New York City where Frances died in 1932
Frances is pictured inside the same house, but dressed to go out. Johnson took various pictures of subjects in several poses
This negative shows that Johnson was able to expose two different images on one plate, though Johnson rarely used that technique. The woman in the portraits is believed to be Dorothy Loving. Dorothy married Clayton Lewis around 1924. They both graduated from Lincoln High School and Dorothy was an active member of Quinn Chapel
Though this young man had his portrait done on the same porch as the woman believed to be Dorothy Loving, he is not her husband Clayton Lewis. This young man's identity is still unknown
Leon, left, and Brevy Hill Lillie, right, are pictured in front of a backdrop. Brevy was one of the oldest children of P.M.E. and Eliza Hill. Brevy's father gave an oral history of his family to an interviewer with the Works Progress Administration program in the 1930s. He could trace his family ancestry to the Yuruban people of Africa and he gave several of his children, Brevy's siblings, African names. Two of Brevy's brothers were names Pahio and Tazonia and two of her sisters were names Zanzye and XaCadene. Zanzye earned a law degree from the University of Nebraska in 1929 and was Nebraska's first African American female law graduate. She went on to serve as chief counsel for an Arkansas insurance company before she died in the 1930s. XaCadene went on to become a physician
The three women in the portrait are believed to be Florence Jones, left, Elenora 'Kit' Carriger (1893-1981), right, and Kit's mother Alice Carriger, center. Kit married George Evans (1874-1945) around 1919 and they were very active in Newman Methodist Episcopal Church. George worked as a chauffeur and houseman for manufacturer C.B. Towle. George was also a charter member of Lincoln's black Masonic lodge. After George died, widowed Kit cooked for a fraternity
Florence Jones is pictured on the bicycle with her mother Kate Constellawaii Wilson in front of the Griswold Seed Company elevator at the corner of 8th and N streets. Florence was known to ride her bicycle everywhere. She lived with her mother on South Seventh Street near an industrial area
Florence Jones, right, is pictured with an unidentified friend sitting on a hammock. Florence went to Park and McKinley elementary schools and went on to graduate from Lincoln High School in 1923
Johnson took hundreds of photographs of his neighbors and friends in the African American and immigrant communities, including children. This little boy is unknown, but he is holding two dogs on top of what looks like a dog house
A smiling, unidentified little girl stands on a chair beside a brand new Edison C-150 Sheraton design phonograph. The machine was introduced in June 1915 and was very popular. It became Edison's second-best seller in 1917 and was manufactured until 1918
This unknown baby sits in a chair for a portrait. On the left of the frame the hem of a woman's dress can be seen
It is believed this boy is standing in front of a wall of the Mount Zion Baptist Church, Lincoln's second African American church founded in 1879. A stone 'basement church' was built in 1892 on a building site given to the congregation by the Nebraska legislature in 1883, but the stuccoed main story of the church was not added until years later
This couple has been identified as Vashti Agnes Knight, left, and her husband Bartel King Mosby, right. They were identified by Ed Zimmer and Vashti's great granddaughter Cherise L. Addison in 2014. They were married in the early 1920s and lived at 1030 Rose Street. Vashti lived from 1891-1981 and Bartel lived from 1888-1964
This man has not yet been identified. He is sitting relaxed in a rocking chair holding a piece of paper
These two children are also still unidentified, but they are posing together in front of a backdrop in what appears to be something of an 'open-air studio' where Johnson sometimes did portraits
This unknown couple are standing in front of a backdrop set up outside against a clapboard house. Because the side of the house, a chair to the left and a child on the right edge of the frame are all visible, it is believed that Johnson intended to crop some of his portraits to include only the subjects
While this baseball player has not been identified, his team was likely sponsored by Frank Gillen, the president of Gillen and Boney Candy Company of Lincoln. Based on his mitt, this player was a catcher on the team
This woman in a feathered hat has not been identified, but she is standing in one of Johnson's makeshift 'studios'. She is standing on a rug between two plants and has a backdrop set up behind her
This unidentified woman is also standing in an 'open-air studio' beside a screen door to a house. The back of a fence is visible to the right of the backdrop
This woman has not been identified yet, but Johnson has her posed similarly to other portraits in front of a house and porch. Historian Ed Zimmer said that the composition of Johnson's portraits show that the subjects were comfortable with his direction, possibly even deciding for themselves how they wanted to be posed in a dignified way
Millard, left, and Delmar Woods, right, were the sons of William and Elizabeth Woods. The boys attended Lincoln High School and Millard went on to the University of Nebraska. He got his degree in pharmacy in 1928 followed by graduate study in school administration. Millard headed the science department of Paul Quinn College in Waco, Texas, from 1928 to 1930 and was the principal of the Phoenix Union Colored High School from 1930 to 1932. He was the founding executive of the Lincoln Urban League when he returned to Nebraska. He received the Medal of Freedom after serving with the Red Cross in Italy and North Africa from 1942 to 1945. Millard moved to Michigan and worked there after the war and from 1954 to 1966 he did various things in welfare services in Chicago. Millard died in 1966 at the age of 62. Delmar, Millard's younger brother by three years died in 1978
Johnson took many photographs on this porch, though none of the pictures give any clues as to whose porch it is. This baby is getting a portrait in a spring suspension baby carriage
This is the same unknown porch where the baby carriage portrait was taken. This child and woman have not been identified, though Johnson took several pictures of this child with other children and a different woman
Johnson did several portraits of different friends. The seated woman to the right also has an individual portrait. Where the backdrop doesn't cover on the right, the side of a building can be seen
This unknown woman stands in front of a backdrop wearing a winter coat, a fur muff and a collar. Though it is not confirmed, it is possible the furs were made by Horace Colley. He worked as a furrier in Lincoln before and after serving as a lieutenant in the US Army during World War I. Horace was the son of Walter and Lulu Colley
This unidentified woman wears an elegant hat and gloves and is sitting in front of a backdrop. The exterior of a house can be seen to the left of the frame
A vanishing American pastime: Fascinating nostalgic images reveal the glory days of drive-in movie theatres and restaurants
- The first drive-in movie theatre in the US dates back to 1933 while drive-in eateries launched in the 1920s
- Both icons flourished in the 1950s, enjoying a golden age as a favourite pastime for families and couples alike
- From over 4,600 in the States in its heyday, drive-in theatres faded in popularity and now there are just 300
With their waitresses on roller-skates, rows of polished convertibles and Hollywood starlets projected onto the big screen, drive-in movie theatres were cultural icons of 50s and 60s America.
They date back to 1933, when Richard Hollingshead Jr opened a screen in Camden, New Jersey. By the 50s - their heyday - there were over 4,600 drive–in movie theatres across the States. Courting couples and families alike would flock to these outdoor movie theatres, in the early years listening to the movies’ audio from a speaker. Later, each car had its own sound source.
During the same golden era, when automobiles were king in most Americans' lives, drive-in restaurants were also booming in popularity, offering drivers and their passengers fast food and fine dining all conveniently brought to their car window.
But now the neon lights of these eateries and silver screens have faded.
In the late 60s, as colour television became the ultimate status symbol for aspirational consumers and movie theatres offered an appealing alternative to drive-ins, more and more plots disappeared from the map, replaced by malls and parking lots. And drive-in restaurants - where customers would eat in their parked car - evolved into the ubiquitous drive-thru.
Today, with just over 20 drive-in restaurants and 300 movie theatres left nationwide, Here, MailOnline Travel takes a nostalgic glimpse back at this vanishing pastime.
Silver screen stars: Drive-in movie theatres first sprung up in the 30s. Here motorists during this decade watch films from the back seat of their vehicles at a drive-in in Los Angeles
Three cars parked at a Los Angeles drive-in cafe, which specialises in sandwiches, with a waitress serving at one car
Where it all began: Drive-in movie theatres date back to 1933 when Richard Hollingshead Jr first opened a screen in Camden, New Jersey, above
Although the first drive-in restaurants appeared in the States in the 1920s, they boomed in popularity during the 1950s. Above, a waiter carrying a stacked tray serves plated pie and hot beverages to delighted motorists at a drive-in restaurant in 1951
During this golden era, automobiles were king in most Americans' lives with passengers enjoying entertainment, fast food and fine dining all conveniently brought to their car
A uniformed drive-in theatre attendant hands a clip-on speaker to the driver of convertible while the car's other passengers (including a puppy) watch. The picture was taken in New York, in early 1950
Although McDonald's began life in 1917, by the late 50s it had become a favourite with American diners. This capture circa 1956 shows the exterior of a McDonald's drive-in fast food restaurant, which advertises 15-cent hamburgers
Courting couples and families alike would flock to these outdoor movie theatres, in the early years listening to the movies’ audio from a speaker. Later each car would have its own sound source. This shot from 1949 shows a young couple snuggling behind the wheel of a convertible as they watch large screen action behind rows of cars at a drive-in movie theatre in LA
A carhop waitress on roller skates serves burgers and milkshakes to a fashionably dressed couple in a 1955 T-bird car
During their 50s heyday there were over 4,600 drive-in movie theatres across the States. Above, a variety of automobile models line up for the start of a film
Golden age: The driver of a glossy vintage vehicle stops to buy a ticket at the entrance of a drive-in
Uniformed lot boys sell tickets to the drivers of the cars swarming around them, left, and right, kids sit in glider swings in the mini-playground at the Rancho Drive-InTheater
Family pastime: Three adults and four children squeeze into one car to take in the latest film release in this shot
Actors Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon in a scene from film Beach Blanket Bingo, shown at a drive-in movie theatre in Florida in 1965
Against an empty skyline, a parade of vehicles line up to buy tickets to the evening spectacle
Actor Charlton Heston as Moses with arms flung wide appearing in motion picture The Ten Commandments as it is shown at a drive-in movie theatre in Utah in 1958
In the late 60s as colour television became the ultimate status symbol for aspirational consumers and movie theatres offered an appealing alternative to drive-ins, more and more plots disappeared from the map, replaced by malls and parking lots
Nowadays, there are around 300 drive-in theatres left in the States and a handful in other countries worldwide. Above, a four-screen drive-in theatre in 1953, where movies are beamed in all directions from a projector in the centre of the parking lot
A man with a tray attached to his car dines at a Californian drive-in in 1964 (left). On the right CBS Radio stars Frances Langford and Kenny Baker at a drive-in café and gas station. They are on a break from performing on The Texaco Star Theater in 1939
A gentleman in a suit and tie returns his empty crockery on a tray to a carhop waitress at a drive-in soda fountain
Glamorous uniformed carhop girls serve food at the Rancho Drive-in Theatre (left) and a Hollywood drive-in restaurant (right)
An American motorist stops at a drive-through burger joint in Hollywood, California, in 1951
On the left is the exterior view from a parking lot of a McDonald's drive-in fast food restaurant located in a shopping plaza in the 50s. On the right are cars parked at Rancho Drive-In Theater with the accordion-like fulcrum arms of movie speakers reaching into each driver's front window, which they will push back onto the central post when the movie is over
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