The late nineteenth century was a pivotal time for African American education and vocational training. During and following the post-Civil War period of Reconstruction (1865-1877), African Americans both created and gained access to educational opportunities, including in the areas of formalized decorative craft and design. Throughout the next century, a trained Black workforce entered and participated in an economy that, while expanding, was rooted in systemically racist practices that hampered Black workers’ attempts to fully participate. The resistance, prejudice, and hostility they faced eventually helped precipitate the mid-twentieth-century Civil Rights Movement. Library of Congress Collection of African American Photographs Assembled for 1900 Paris Exposition