Christopher Lewis, Preacher, Wooton, Kentucky

Doris Ulmann, 1928–1934

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Artist: Doris Ulmann (American, 1882–1934)
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Size: Image: 20.3 × 15.2 cm (8 × 6 in.)
Culture: American
Museum: J. Paul Getty Museum
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Wooton Fireside Industries, established to promote such mountain crafts as furniture making, woodcarving, and weaving, was begun in the 1920s, about the time the John C. Campbell Folk School was founded near Brasstown, North Carolina. Allen Eaton (1878-1962), who was attempting to document the history of the handicraft revival, as well as to describe in detail these regional practices in his 1937 book Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands (https://primo.getty.edu), may have sent Doris Ulmann to Wooton to record the craftspeople gathered there.

Preacher Lewis, however, clearly captured Ulmann's attention as an important character in the community. She photographed him in a large, elaborate handmade chair with and without his jacket, eyeglasses, and wife. In this picture the preacher is shown alone clutching his Bible to his chest, appearing somewhat anxious but also spiritual.

Text: J. Paul Getty Trust, CC BY 4.0.