Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864-1952) was born during the American Civil War. Her 60-year career as a photographer began with portrait, news, and documentary work then turned to a focus on contemporary architecture and gardens, culminating in a survey of historic buildings in the southern United States.
In the 1880s, Johnston studied art in Paris and then returned home to Washington, DC, where she learned photography. She quickly established a national reputation as a professional photographer and businesswoman, with growing success in both the art and commercial worlds.
Johnston counted presidents, diplomats, and other government officials among her portrait clients, while in her personal life she travelled in more Bohemian circles.
In the 1890s and early 1900s, as one of the first photojournalists, she provided images to the Bain News Service syndicate and wrote illustrated articles for many magazines. Her active roles in pictorialist photo exhibitions and world’s fairs reflect her high level of energy and determination as well as her exceptional photographic talent.
An interest in progressive education resulted in pioneering projects to document students at public schools in Washington, DC; the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama; the Hampton Institute in Virginia; and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania.
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| Thanksgiving Day lesson at Whittier, 1899-1900 |
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| Outdoor class in botany, Washington, DC, ca. 1899 |
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| Students of 8th Division school using rulers, yardsticks, and measuring tape in school yard, Washington, DC, ca. 1899 |
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| Two girls and a boy pumping water at well of Hampton Institute graduate, 1899-1900 |
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| Women painting at easels in a class at the Art Students’ League, Washington, DC, 1889 |
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| Group of public school children offering peanuts to animals in the National Zoo, Washington, DC, ca. 1899 |
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| Isadora Duncan’s dance students, early 1900s |
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| Machine shop class, Washington, DC, ca. 1899 |
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| Art class, sketching ducks at zoo, Normal school, ca. 1899 |
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| Hampton Institute, Hampton, Va., ca. 1898 – 11 students in uniform playing guitars, banjos, mandolins, and cello |
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| Louis Firetail (Sioux, Crow Creek), wearing tribal clothing, giving a presentation in an American history class, Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia, 1899-1900 |
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| 6th Division mathematics class on a street paving problem, ca. 1899 |
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| A class at the zoo – the bird cage, ca. 1899 |
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| A class in dressmaking, Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia, 1899 |
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| Art class with live model, Normal School, Washington, DC, ca. 1899 |
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| Classroom scenes in Washington, D.C. public schools – outdoor exercise with rods – 3rd Division, ca. 1899 |
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| History class at the Tuskegee Institute |
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| School children on a field trip |
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| School children conducting simple experiments, Washington, DC, 1899 |
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| School children examining wild flowers on field trip, Washington, DC, 1899 |
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| School children learning a dance in a school yard, Washington, DC, 1899 |
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| School children measuring and sketching at a stone building, Washington, DC, 1899 |
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| Schoolgirls doing calisthenics |
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| Cooking class |
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| Elementary school class on Native American Culture |
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| Female students exercising with dumbbells, Western High School, Washington, DC, 1899 |
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| Geography class at the Hampton Institute |
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| Girls in a science laboratory at Eastern High School, Washington, DC, 1899 |
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| Girls on the playground, 1899 |
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| 2nd Division grade school pupils examining a mailbox |
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| 6 girls in art class, drawing at easels, Eastern High School, Washington, DC, 1899 |
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| Academie Julian, Paris, group of art students, 1885 |
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| African American children and teacher in classroom studying corn and cotton, Annie Davis School, near Tuskegee, Alabama, 1902 |
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| African American schoolgirls with teacher, learning to cook on a wood stove in classroom, 1899 |
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| American Indian and African American students at Hampton Institute, men and women in chemistry lab, 1899 |
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| American Indian and African American students at Hampton Institute, women studying human respiratory system, 1899 |
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| Art class |
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| Class of the Sixth Division at the Library of Congress, 1899 |