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Preferred Citation

Encounter with an Elephant Glass Slides, circa 1880, Special Collections Research Center, William and Mary Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Gary Barranger, Class of '73, Law '76.

Scope and Contents

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.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• African Americans
• Arts and racism
• Gary Alonzo Barranger