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Photo, Print, Drawing [Sign along road reading Grand Cafe and "Eat nigger chicken" in Vinita, Oklahoma]

[ digital file from original ]

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[ digital file from b&w film copy neg. ]

Full online access to this resource is only available at the Library of Congress.

About this Item

Title

  • [Sign along road reading Grand Cafe and "Eat nigger chicken" in Vinita, Oklahoma]

Names

  • Jones, J. Richardson, photographer

Created / Published

  • [1942]

Headings

  • -  Signs--Oklahoma--Vinita--1940-1950
  • -  Racism--Oklahoma--Vinita--1940-1950

Format Headings

  • Ethnic stereotypes--1940-1950.
  • Gelatin silver prints--1940-1950.

Genre

  • Ethnic stereotypes--1940-1950
  • Gelatin silver prints--1940-1950

Notes

  • -  Accompanied by a letter from J. Richardson Jones, dramatist and cinematographer, Atlanta, GA, dated August 11, 1943, to Walter White, NAACP: "During a tour through Oklahoma last year, I passed through Vinita ... and was shocked to find along the road a series of signs advertising a white cafe in Vinita reading: Eat nigger chicken. Whether the reference was to southern-brown-fried-chicken or pork chops, I was unable to determine (informants said both). However, despite to what it refers, it is certainly insulting, and, in my opinion, a poor bit of cheap publicity." The letter concludes with a request that the NAACP contact the mayor and governor in Oklahoma about removing the "abominable signs," using the two enclosed photographs taken by Mr. Jones.
  • -  Title devised by Library staff.
  • -  Forms part of: Visual materials from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People records (Library of Congress).
  • -  Exhibited: "Black Photojournalism" at Carnegie Museum of Art, 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, September 12, 2025 - January 12, 2026.
  • -  Exhibited: "Black Photojournalism" at Amon Carter Museum of American Art, 3501 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, TX 76107, March 3, 2026 - July 11, 2026.

Medium

  • 1 photograph : black and white, gelatin silver print ; sheet 12.4 x 9.4 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • LOT 13087, no. 2 [item] [P&P]

Source Collection

  • Visual materials from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People records (Library of Congress)

Repository

  • Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http:// hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2001695535

Reproduction Number

  • LC-DIG-ppmscd-03173 (digital file from original) LC-USZ62-127767 (b&w film copy neg.)

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

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For guidance about compiling full citations consult Citing Primary Sources.

  • Rights Advisory: Publication may be restricted. For information see "Visual Materials from the NAACP ...," http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/print/res/086_naa.html
  • Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-ppmscd-03173 (digital file from original) LC-USZ62-127767 (b&w film copy neg.)
  • Call Number: LOT 13087, no. 2 [item] [P&P]
  • Access Advisory: ---

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Jones, J. Richardson, photographer. Sign along road reading Grand Cafe and "Eat nigger chicken" in Vinita, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Vinita, 1942. Photograph. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2001695535/.

APA citation style:

Jones, J. R., photographer. (1942) Sign along road reading Grand Cafe and "Eat nigger chicken" in Vinita, Oklahoma. Oklahoma Vinita, 1942. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/2001695535/.

MLA citation style:

Jones, J. Richardson, photographer. Sign along road reading Grand Cafe and "Eat nigger chicken" in Vinita, Oklahoma. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <aj.sunback.homes/item/2001695535/>.