Archival Object 1: 4-H Open House

This item is an archival object from the 1996 Sayde Wier Collection. This photo is of three African American women at a 4-H Open House.

The significance of this item is not only that it shows the lengths that African American women went to fulfill their roles that were assigned by society at the time but also that it creates perfect correlation between the standards and Kincaid's "Girl."

Within the picture of the 4-H Open House, there is a sign above one of the women sitting at the table that reads "4-H Club Girls Learn to Can, Sew, and Bake." This plays into Kincaid's "Girl" well since the mother within it stresses the importance of her daughter knowing how to do certain household tasks in order to fulfill the roles given to the by the society that they had been placed. The photo contains many objects such as skirts and quilts thus further showing the importance to the women to know how to sew correctly and efficiently such as within Kincaid's "Girl."

While this item is not well-known item, it still has importance because of it's ability to be used by any level of person within a school system. This photo allows the exploration of women's roles in 1995 and gives a great physical picture of what the women would do in order to comply with society's rules. This photo could also be useful for public speakers to use incase they were speaking on how big of strides that women have made in the past years. Though this photograph is of a specific example, it is able to be used by many people to further press their focus points.

Furthermore, the item below allows for a better analysis of Kincaid's "Girl." The photo illustrates that African American women would join clubs in order to concede to the rules of society that were placed on the women of said time. The photo allows for the stress of women knowing how to cook, sew, and bake to truly be seen within this historic photo thus translating that onto "Girl" for a deeper and more complex analyzation.

4-H Open House. 1956. Robert and Sayde Wier Papers. Manuscripts Division, Special Collections Department, Mississippi State U Libraries, Mississippi State, MS. msstate.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/charm/id/14656/rec/1. Accessed 04 Nov. 2020.