“Dr. Marshall’s Photo Mission”

Dr. Mary Marshall arrived at the Digital Diaspora Family Reunion (DDFR) Roadshow at Harlem Stage with a huge satchel of images from her family archive. Last February, Dr. Marshall spent an afternoon with filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris to relay her family history as told through photographs.

“I happened to be blessed to have so much, so I thought it was important to share it,” she told Mr. Harris while surveying the scores images from the photo collections she inherited from her Mother and Grandmother. One of Dr. Marshall’s favorite photos is a portrait of the entire family that was taken in 1905 when her grandmother was a five-year-old child. Marshall notes that many of the images in her precious trove of pictures were taken by her great uncle Robert E. Williams who owned a photo studio in Augusta, Georgia.

Active in the New York AME Church, Dr. Marshall reflects on the importance of saving, documenting and sharing our personal and community histories, “That’s my motivation!”