Darktown Fire Brigade: The Foreman on Parade, "De gals all mire me so much dey makes me blush."

The late nineteenth-century Darktown prints by Currier & Ives depict racist stereotypes that are offensive and disturbing. The Metropolitan
Museum of Art preserves such works to shed light on their historical context and to enable the study and evaluation of racism.

This print depicts caricatured figures. A smiling Black (African American) man --dressed in a belted blue jacket, dark gray pants and a white fireman's hat (labeled "FOREMAN")-- marches proudly towards the left as he leads a parade. He also displays a corsage of roses pinned to his right shoulder, and his belt buckle is initialed "D.T.F.B." for "Dark Town Fire Brigade"); a voice trumpet is cradled in his left arm. In the background, two buildings line the street, from which Black women wave, while other spectators stand on the sidewalk (with two women standing prominently at left). In the right middle ground, three firemen (dresed in red shirts, blue pants, boots, and white fireman hats) walk beside a donkey pulling a red-and-white striped wagon with a grand seated figure (wearing a striped costume and white cap) holding a flag in each hand. The title and caption are imprinted in the bottom margin.


Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced thousands of prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life and its history. People eagerly acquired such lithographs featuring picturesque scenery, rural and city views, ships, railroads, portraits, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel included his younger brother Charles in the business. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (1824–1895), the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law, was made a business partner. Subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued via their successors until 1907.