- Photograph by
- Galbraith, Robert, American, 1919 - 2015
- Printed by
- Bakht, Igor, born 1928
- Subject of
- Coley, Mary Francis Hill, American, 1900 - 1966
- Sapp, Martha Butler, American, 1932 - 2003
- Date
- 1952; printed 2005
- Medium
- silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
- Dimensions
- H x W (Image): 14 1/2 x 19 in. (36.8 x 48.3 cm)
- H x W (Sheet): 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm)
- Description
- Black and white image of Martha Sapp giving birth. On the right hand of the image are a pair of bare legs splayed out, knees bent. Sapp wears white socks. On the bed in front of Sapp is a baby crying, covered in afterbirth. The umbilical cord of the baby is still attached but is seen spilling out the woman, along with the placenta. Sapp and child are laying on a bed covered with a patterned blanket. Behind Sapp, in the upper left, is a blur of a Mary Coley wearing a white apron with hands outstretched. Only the lower halves of both women can be seen in the image.
- Place depicted
- Albany, Dougherty County, Georgia, United States, North and Central America
- Portfolio/Series
- Reclaiming Midwives: Stills from All My Babies
- Classification
- Photographs and Still Images
- Type
- gelatin silver prints
- Topic
- Black Enterprise
- Children
- Families
- Health
- Labor
- Medicine
- Midwifery
- Motherhood
- Photography
- Rural life
- Women
- Credit Line
- Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Robert Galbraith
- Object number
- 2009.1.7
- Restrictions & Rights
- © 1987 Robert Galbraith
- Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.




