James P. Newton

James P. Newton was a photographer in Memphis, Tennessee. He is noted as the city's first African American professional photographer and as an influential documenter of the city's history.[1] Several of his cabinet card photographs remain including in the University of Memphis' collection.[2]

Newton owned property in Chicago and partnered with his brother Charles to form Newton & Newton. He also worked for a larger studio during his career.[3]

He featured in Sprakling Gems of Race Knowledge Worth Knowing (1897), along with a portrait of him. G. P. Hamilton wrote about him in The Bright Side of Memphis (1908).[1]

He had a studio on 134 South Main and then Beale Street.[4] The Memphis Heritage Trail includes a site related to him.[5]

  1. ^ a b Jenkins, Earnestine Lovelle (February 28, 2016). Race, Representation & Photography in 19th-Century Memphis – From Slavery to Jim Crow. Routledge. p. 280. ISBN 9781409468196.
  2. ^ Jenkins, Earnestine (January 11, 2017). "The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis". University of Memphis. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  3. ^ Jenkins, Earnestine (February 27, 2018). "Portrait of Annie Sybil Thomas Jarret by James P. Newton – First Black Professional Photographer in Memphis". protect.chickhistory.org. Archived from the original on January 25, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  4. ^ "Cabinet Card Photos and the Historic Memphis Photographers". historic-memphis.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved April 23, 2021.
  5. ^ "Maps | Memphis Heritage Trail".