Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Curator of Manuscripts and Rare Books, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.
Collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.
Twelve glass plate slides depicting a cartoon scene of a native African American shooting a spear into the back end of an elephant. Rather than wounding the animal, it provokes it. The following scenes show the elephant holding the native underwater, almost feeding it to a crocodile, and then finally deciding to throw the native onto a prickly bush. The last scene of the cartoon slide shows the elephant walking off and the native covered in thorns. The scenes depict the African American in a less than flattering manner and exaggerate his ethnic features.
Gift of Gary Barranger, Class of '73, Law '76.
Encounter with an Elephant Glass Slides, circa 1880, Special Collections Research Center, William and Mary Libraries.