Aunt Sally's House
1932
black-and-white lithograph
11 ⅜" x 15 ½” plate
This print shows an African American Eastern Shore vernacular house and farmyard set against a wooded backdrop. Mrs. Sally DeShields stands in the front doorway, caring for a child Along the front path, a small boy approaches carrying a bucket. The rural setting is punctuated by a roaming chicken and a dog sleeping in the yard. The house depicts rural poverty with honesty. At the same time, the home warmly reflects its caring inhabitants, as smoke gently billows from one of the chimneys. Encompassed by a wooden fence and secured by a gate, the house feels safe. And even though the road leading to the property is rutted, the landscape remains well ordered. The artist left notes about her first interaction with Mrs. DeShields, and her struggle with finding equity one hundred years ago:
One day, after we had been living in Maryland for a few months my mother sent me to hire a colored woman. She came out of her cabin barefooted, and I right away fell in love with her fine, handsome face. When someone later asked old Aunt Sally whom she worked for, she said, “For Miss Ruth.” They said, “Who is Miss Ruth?” Aunt Sally answered, “Why she is a stranger from off. But she quality just the same.” I tell you this to show what I had to live down.