Darktown Athletics -- A Running High Jump: Match between the Darktown Grasshopper and the Blackville Frog

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 sports scene shows two Black (African American) men who attempt to clear a high jump at the same time. The tall and thin man (wearing a pink shirt with red dots) is in front and he "accidentally" kicks the face of the other plump jumper (wearing a yellow and blue striped shirt). Standing in the background, a crowd of Black male spectators-- many with caricatured lips -- cheer.The caption (imprinted in bottom margin) refers to the body types of the two athletes in this high jump competition.

Nathaniel Currier (1813–1888), who established a successful New York-based lithography firm in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life. In 1857, Currier made James Merritt Ives (1824–1895) a business partner. People eagerly acquired Currier & Ives lithographs, such as those featuring spectacular American landscapes, rural and city views, marines, railroads, portraits, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. The firm operated until 1907. Images were printed in monochrome, then hand-colored by women who worked for the company; later, prints were printed in color.