Exhibition
Family/History: Exploring the Randolph-Ward Photographic Collection
| April 16, 2022 — August 28, 2022 | |
| North Gallery |
Revealing histories of the Randolph and Ward families and their relatives in Fairfield, the Randolph-Ward Collection spans approximately 100 years of family and photographic history. Tracing how the development of photography as a medium intertwined with these families’ histories, this exhibit highlights photographic documentation as a poignant tradition within the families.
Learn more through a selection of the photographs found in the Randolph-Ward Collection and a display of cameras from the Museum’s collection spanning the 1890s to the 1950s.
This exhibition was developed in collaboration with Allison Minto, the Museum’s IMAGES 2022 Featured Photographer.
Click here to download a large-print version of the exhibition labels.
Image: Ward, Randolph, and Williams Family Reunion, c. 1940s. Gift of Gwendolyn Ward, 2018, Ward and Randolph Family Collection, MSB 142.
Works on View
Portrait of Gwendolyn Ward by Corbit Studio, c. 1940s. Gift of Gwendolyn Ward, 2018, Ward and Randolph Family Collection, MSB 142.
Gwendolyn Ward donated the photographs that comprise the Randolph-Ward Collection to the Fairfield Museum in 2018. She lived in a house at the intersection of Round Hill and Barlow Roads in Fairfield, the home of the Randolph family since the late 1800s.
Harriet (left), Gwendolyn (center), and Charlotte Ward (right) at the White Swan in Norwalk, CT, c. 1943. Gift of Gwendolyn Ward, 2018, Ward and Randolph Family Collection, MSB 142.
Photography seemed to be of special significance to Gwendolyn Ward’s older sister Charlotte, who followed her interest in art & design at New York University. It is possible she met her future husband, the photographer Ralph Earle Congo, at that time.
Studio portrait of Ralph Earle Congo, c. 1930-40s. Gift of Gwendolyn Ward, 2018, Ward and Randolph Family Collection, MSB 142.
Marking his photographs with watermarks or stamps of his name and studio as a photographer, Ralph Earle Congo ties together the significance of Black representation in photography and the Ward family history.
