Jun 6, 2022
“Make A Wish (Bronx Slave Market, 170th Street),” 1938.
The people in this photo are at the so-called Bronx Slave Market, a place where African-Americans would wait for white people to choose workers for day-long jobs. Later, the city created an official Day-Work Office for the area.
The Smithsonian notes on its website that the photo “resists condescension by capturing the lighter mood created by the people awaiting work: the standing woman smiles as she looks ahead; the man seems to join her, smiling in her general direction; and the seated woman is immersed in her paper, perhaps scanning the listings for a job."
Photo: Robert McNeil via the Smithsonian American Art Museum
