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Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection

African Art Museum

Ndebele Woman at Doorway
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
Finding aid
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .

Object Details

Summary

The collection dates from 1900 to 1997 and mostly includes images taken in South Africa. The images document the peoples of South Africa, particularly the Loved, Ndebele, San, Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu peoples. Locations photographed include Basutoland (now Lesotho), Bechuanaland (now Botswana), Johannesburg, Natal, Pretoria, Soweto, Swaziland, Transkei, Transvaal, the Umzimkulu Valley and Zululand. Manuscript and office files include clippings, correspondence, exhibition announcements, invitations and reviews, notes, essays, receipts, and other materials that document Larrabee's career, family history, and personal life.

Scope and Contents

The collection dates from 1900 to 1997 and mostly includes images taken in South Africa. The images document the peoples of South Africa, particularly the Lovedu, Ndebele, San, Sotho, Xhosa, and Zulu peoples. Locations photographed include Basutoland (now Lesotho), Bechuanaland (now Botswana), Johannesburg, Natal, Pretoria, Soweto, Swaziland, Transkei, Transvaal, the Umzimkulu Valley and Zululand. Notable people photographed include Noel Coward, Gwen Ffangcon Davies, Athol Fugard, Nadine Gordimer, Norman Hackforth, Freida Lock, Ivor Novello, Alan Paton, Alexis Preller, Gerard Sekoto, and Marda Vanne. The manuscript materials and office files are comprised of clippings, correspondence, exhibition announcements, invitations and reviews, notes, essays, receipts, and other manuscript materials that document Larrabee's career, family history, and personal life.
sova.eepa.1998-006

GUID

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo73ffd6319-f297-4673-b633-778332d2e920

Photographer

Larrabee, Constance Stuart

Place

Botswana
Lesotho
South Africa
Swaziland
Africa

Topic

Lobedu (African people)

Provenance

Donated by Constance Stuart Larabee in 1986 and 1998.

Photographer

Larrabee, Constance Stuart

Culture

Ndebele (African people)
Zulu (African people)
Xhosa (African people)
Swazi (African people)

See more items in

Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection

Sponsor

The cataloging of the Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection was supported by a grant from The Smithsonian Women's Committee.

Biographical/Historical note

Photographer Constance Stuart Larrabee (1914-2000) was best known for her images taken in South Africa. Born in Cornwall, England, she was raised in Pretoria. She studied photography in London (1933-1935) and at the Bavarian State Institute for Photography in Munich (1935-1936), where she was influenced by the avant-garde work of artists at the Bauhaus. Returning to South Africa, Larrabee set up a studio and photographed many leading cultural and political figures of the period. During World War II she served as South Africa's first woman war correspondent, and in 1950 she married American Sterling Larrabee and moved to the United States. Larrabee began photographing the peoples of South Africa in the late 1930s. She published extensively, including a portfolio produced for the book Cry, the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton (New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1948). Her work has appeared in exhibits throughout the world, including the following: The Lovedu in Pretoria, 1947; The Family of Man (Museum of Modern Art, 1955); Tribal Photographs (Corcoran Art Gallery, 1984; and Go Well, My Child (National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, 1986).

Extent

circa 11000 Negatives (photographic) (black and white and color, 2.5 x 2.5 inches or smaller)
circa 5000 Photographic prints (silver gelatin, black and white, 8 x 10 inches or smaller)
circa 20 Linear Feet (Manuscript Materials)
5.4 Linear Feet (Office Files)

Date

1900-1997

Archival Repository

Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Identifier

EEPA.1998-006

Type

Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Negatives (photographic)
Photographic prints
Negatives

Citation

Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection, EEPA 1998-006, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Arrangement

Arranged by format into 3 series: Series 1: Photographs, circa 1936-circa 1988 Series 2: Manuscript Materials, circa 1936-circa 1996 Series 3: Office Files, 1900-1997

Processing Information

Metadata prepared by Kelsey Arrington-Ashford and Hannah Storch, 2018. Manuscript inventory by Emily Petro. Finding aid by Eden Orelove, 2019.

Rights

Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Genre/Form

Photographic prints
Negatives

Restrictions

Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.

Constance Stuart Larrabee collection (COR0011-MS)

Collection held at the George Washington University Archives and Special Collections. Includes artifacts, correspondence, exhibition files, photographs, negatives, and publication files of Constance Stuart Larrabee, photographer and South Africa's first woman war correspondent. A bulk of the materials document Larrabee's time in Europe as a correspondent and photographer during World War II.
EEPA.1998-006
Large EAD
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo73ffd6319-f297-4673-b633-778332d2e920
EEPA.1998-006
EEPA

Record ID

ebl-1539205658568-1539205662716-0

Showing 3,717 result(s)

  • Images 2,975 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Archival materials 3,717 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Negatives (photographic) 2,885 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Photographic transparencies 95 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Photographic prints 61 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Copy prints 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Ndebele (African people) 53 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Swazi (African people) 6 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1000s 1 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1900s 17 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1920s 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1930s 483 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1950s 68 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1960s 743 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1970s 429 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1980s 2,031 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • 1990s 59 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • South Africa 1,950 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Johannesburg (South Africa) 472 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Cape Town (South Africa) 450 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Pretoria (South Africa) 424 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Stellenbosch (South Africa) 175 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Mmabatho (South Africa) 168 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Livingston (Zambia) 126 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Zambia 126 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Harare (Zimbabwe) 120 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Western Cape (South Africa) 68 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Africa 61 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Durham (N.C.) 59 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Kruger National Park (South Africa) 58 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Botswana 54 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) 51 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • France 50 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Zimbabwe 49 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Gaborone (Botswana) 48 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Alphen, Cape Town (South Africa) 36 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Durban (South Africa) 34 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Paris (France) 34 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Elgin (South Africa) 29 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Hermanus (Cape of Good Hope, South Africa) 25 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Mafikeng (South Africa) 23 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Swellendam (South Africa) 22 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection 3,717 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Cape Town, South Africa 187 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Mmabatho, South Africa 168 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Stellenbosch, South Africa 163 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Livingston, Zambia 126 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs 103 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / MV Stirling Castle Vogage, South Africa 93 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Alan Paton 88 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / City and Estate Scenes, Pretoria, South Africa 78 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Coastal Scenes, Cape Town, South Africa 77 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 2: Manuscript Materials / "Seek What is True" / "Seek What is True" 75 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Street Scenes and Landscapes, Cape Town, South Africa 73 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Harare, Zimbabwe 71 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / City Scenes, Johannesburg, South Africa 68 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Western Cape, South Africa 67 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 2: Manuscript Materials / South Africa 65 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Ndebele Peoples, Pretoria, South Africa 64 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Trip from Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires to Cape Town 60 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 59 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Kruger National Park, South Africa 58 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Street Scenes, Johannesburg and Pretoria, South Africa 58 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Unidentified People, South Africa 58 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Iscor Ltd. Steel works plant, Pretoria, South Africa 56 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Miners, Johannesburg area 50 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Constance Stuart Larrabee Collection / Series 1: Photographs / Photographs / Salisbury Dog Show, Harare, Zimbabwe 49 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Bophuthatswana 166 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Iscor Limited 55 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Huguenot Monument (Franschhoek, South Africa) 45 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Argentina 11 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden 10 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • United States 10 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Stonehenge (England) 8 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Lobedu (African people) 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Notre-Dame de Paris (Cathedral) 4 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Salisbury Cathedral 2 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • CC0 3,717 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • Yes 3,090 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • No 627 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus
  • ead_component 3,717 Filter by term plus Exclude term minus

Clear facet(s):

Excluded:

  • Remove Date: 1940s close

Letter (typed) to Constance Stuart Larrabee from Ms. Smit acknowledging publication of the Nagmaal book.

Newspaper clipping: Pictures of Mrs. Alan Stuart and her daughter Constance, "who are leaving for England where Miss Stuart will study photography."

Article entitled "Sun Coast", in Property Argus., regarding Cape Town real estate.

Newspaper article entitled "I Must Confess That I Am Very Proud.", by chief minister of KwaZulu and chairman of South African Black Alliance, discussing pride of Zulu people.

Newspaper clipping entitled "South Africans Abroad: Some Reflections On England," from London on March 31, mentioning that Constance Stuart "is learning to be a photographer, or perhaps it would be truer to say that she is already quite an accomplished one ..."

Booklets with various speeches: "Political and economic change in South Africa," "Influx control and economic growth," "Light on a Dark Continent," "Apartheid Under Pressure."

Catalogues: River Press

Brochure for "The Alan Paton Centre."

Exhibition brochure for Constance Stuart Larrabee's photographs at the University of Stellenbosch.

Booklet: South Africa in the American Mind- published speech of the Commemoration Day Lecture at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, October 14, 1981 by Alan Pifer, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Essay entitled "A Letter Home From Constance Stuart Larrabee."

Letter (typed) to Mrs. Senior, Director of the Johannesburg At Gallery, from Constance Stuart Larrabee, with attached list of photographs and their respective prices. [May I thank you and your staff for the hard work behind the scenes which ensured the success of the first photographic exhibition… I am delighted you may augment your photographic collection with prints from my Retrospective Exhibition…]

Newspaper clipping: from the Pretoria News, August 8, 1936 [part of the masthead that contains the date is taped to the clipping], an article entitled "Photographic Exhibition" about a display of 40 of Constance Stuart's work after her study in London.

Article entitled "Paton's Place", in The Argus.

Letter (handwritten) to Colonel Sterling Larrabee ("My dear dear Loopi Laarraabbee") from Constance Stuart Larrabee ("Konstansia") on white lined paper, asking "How's the farmer, the farm and seven farm dogs and four farm coloreds and two farm birds? What a happy time I am having thanks to Farmer Larrabee. Your present to me is great and I am enjoying it beyond all expectations." Letter mentions seeing old friends and family in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Letter (typed) to Professor Bun Booyens from Constance Stuart Larrabee asking to meet him when in South Africa for her exhibition in Stellenbosch in March.

Article entitled "The Essence of Tribal Dress", in The Star.

Certificate from The Polytechnic, Regent Street, London, W1: "This is to Certify that Constance Stuart was awarded a Second Class Pass in Portrait Operating: Intermediate Stage."

Article entitled "Women's Day in KwaNdebele", in South African Digest.

Article entitled "Paton 'Kept Alive' by 'Beloved Country.'" Cape Times.

Magazine article entitled "The Cape Malays", in South African Panorama.

Empty white airmail envelope stamped "Philatelic Services Pretoria 223563." Handwritten on top left of envelope is "Old Photos."

Constance Stuart Larrabee's notes.

Newspaper clipping entitled "Fashion Notes: The Chic of Africa" by Nina Hyde, in The Washington Post.

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