black photographers

black photographers

James Edward Hemphill (1886-1959)

James E. Hemphill worked in Charlotte from 1917 to 1959. Besides Henry Hayden, he is the only known black photographer in Charlotte prior to 1925. He was born in Blackstock, South Carolina in 1886. Hemphill was the son of James and Frances Hemphill. (1) He firsts appears in the Charlotte City Directory in 1912. Hemphill and Jonathan S.J. Byers ran a restaurant called Hemphill and Byers. Two years later, the men operated the Epicurin Lunch at 500 Mint Street. (2) Starting in 1917, Hemphill worked as a photographer.

Henry Hayden, Sr. (1872-1934)

Henry Hayden, Sr. (1872-1934) was a contemporary of Baumgarten and Van Ness and was Charlotte’s first known black photographer. The son of David and Mary Hayden, he grew up in Charlotte and opened a studio in 1897 at 303 South Brevard Street. This photograph and the one that follows cannot be identified as being shot by Hayden, but they exemplify Hayden’s work.

Unknown gentleman from the Charlotte African-American Album Photograph Collection

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