Powell Family Thanksgiving

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Description

Thanksgiving was always a time of family gathering for the Powell extended family. Below are some photos from those events.

The first two images were taken at the Gwathmey family home at Bear Island in Hanover County, Virginia in 1960. The property was in the family of Powell's mother from before the Civil War. For much of the twentieth century, it served as a summer retreat and a place for family holiday gatherings.

Apparently the first photo was taken by Lewis Powell and the second by his brother Angus, as they swapped spots in the back row in the two images. Note that while Angus's photo is slightly out of focus and is a straightforward snapshot, Lewis' shows his sophistication in photography. Not only is it in focus, but he has better control of his subjects, including the apparent posing of his mother and two sisters looking away from the camera at varying angles.

Images 3 through 7 (in vertical descending order) are photos and captions (in Justice Powell's hand, from the backs of the photos) of Powell Thanksgivings 1975, 1976 and 1985. All of these were taken in the backyard of Glenelg, Justice and Mrs. Powell's home in the west end of Richmond. The Huguenot Bridge over the James River can be seen in the background of the 1976 photo.

Exhibition Date

11-2011

Keywords

Powell Family, Thanksgiving, Holidays