As (Mr. Anderson) invited me in, I saw that his studio had fallen into disrepair. Sitting on his desk was an old cardboard filing box, from which he pulled dozens of crumpled paper envelopes, all containing negatives, and all carefully hand-labeled with the names of the sitters. He also brought out two boxes of photographs. As he reached inside I expected to see more portraits, but instead I saw a foreign town, full of life. It looked like Mayberry, but with an all-black cast. The first photograph was a smiling cheerleader with a megaphone. . . In the next, lots of pretty young women rode in a parade of shiny convertibles, a homecoming queen surrounded by her court. “Is this Greenville?” I asked. “Yes, this is Greenville.”

-This story, shared by Shawn Wilson in Separate, but Equal: The Mississippi Photography of H.C. Anderson (2002), appears on the Power of Place Hub Table located on the Museum's Third Floor. For more information on the exhibit, visit the Power of Place Collection story.