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The Newman S. Hungerford Museum Fund, 2001.22.25, the Connecticut Historical Society.
Fredi Washington with friends and dog on front steps, June 25, 1935
The Newman S. Hungerford Museum Fund, 2001.22.25, the Connecticut Historical Society.

Fredi Washington with friends and dog on front steps, June 25, 1935

Subject (American, 1903 - 1994)
Original Owner (American, 1903 - 1994)
DateJune 25, 1935
MediumPhotography; gelatin silver print on paper
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 6 1/4 x 4 3/8in. (15.9 x 11.1cm) or smaller
Sheet (height x width): 7 x 5in. (17.8 x 12.7cm) or smaller
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineThe Newman S. Hungerford Museum Fund
DescriptionImage of Fredi Washington (center, front row) and friends, seated on outdoor porch steps. The porch is led by a trellis, and then a screen door leading into the residence. The two women are seated on either side of Fredi; two children are seated on either side of the women. A small dog is posed at Fredi's left side.
Object number2001.22.25
NotesSubject Note: Fredericka Carolyn "Fredi" Washington was born in Savannah, Georgia in 1903 and died in Stamford, Connecticut in 1994. Fredi began her career as a dancer at the Cotton Club in Harlem during the 1920s. She appeared in Black and Tan, a short film featuring Duke Ellington and his orchestra, in 1929 and went on to career in motion pictures. She is most famous for her portrayal of Peola in Imitation of Life (1934). Fredi helped found the Negro Actors Guild of America in 1937 and served as Entertainment Editor of the People's Voice, established in 1942 by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., who married Fredi's sister. Fredi was also active in the NAACP. She played opposite the great African-American actor Paul Robeson on several occasions, most notably in the film version of The Emperor Jones in 1933, but also in a 1926 production of Black Boy, at the Stamford Theater. Fredi's first husband was Lawrence Brown, a trombonist in Duke Ellington's orchestra. After they divorced in 1951, she married a Stamford dentist, Hugh Anthony Bell, and moved to suburban Greenwich. Bell died in 1970. In 1975, Fredi was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame; in 1979, she received a CIRCA Award for lifetime achievement in the performing arts. She was 90 years old when she died of pneumonia in 1994. (Finlay 12/29/10)
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