Unidentified Children, Narrows Island
Datec. 1905-1910
MediumPhotography; nitrate negatives
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (overall height x width): 1 3/16 × 5 3/16in. (3 × 13.2cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineBequest from the Estate of Elizabeth Beattie
DescriptionBlack and white photographic negative of two children on the beach at Narrows Island, possibly members of the Beattie family. Two children, a girl [left] and boy [right] stand next to each other, the boy is looking at the girl. They are both dressed in white or light colored clothes with dark stockings and button-up leather ankle boots. View of sand, rock outcroppings, and coastal vegetation in the background.
Object number2023.17.79
CopyrightPublic Domain
Inscribed(.77-.79) Typed on envelope: “NARROWS ISLAND / PERSONNEL / Harold, Phillip Malcolm, Robert, Mildred”Handwritten on envelope beneath typed description: “2 Black girls– 1 worked for mother / + 1 for Trudy Harrison / They came from Union County / Virginia + worked for / 18.00 + board + room / month / 1905–‘06"NotesSubject Note: John Beattie's granite quarry, situated in Guilford on the Long Island Sound, was well-positioned to distribute granite via a fleet of schooners to locations in Connecticut and New York. Notably, granite from Beattie's quarry was used in the pedestal at the base of the Statue of Liberty.
The quarry operated from 1869, when Scottish immigrant Beattie purchased 400 acres of land on Leetes Island, until about 1918, when Beattie's sons closed up shop 20 years after his death. At its height, the quarry employed 700 people, many of them immigrants from Scotland, Ireland, England, Finland, Sweden, and Italy.
On View
Not on view
1890-1918
March 1905
1890-1918
1890-1918
