Who Was Doris Ulmann?

Doris Ulmann was an American photographer who dedicated her career to documenting the disappearing traditions of the Appalachian and Southern Highlands regions. Raised in New York, Ulmann began her training under Clarence White. She later became one of the first students to attend the Clarence H. White School of Photography. Having obtained this education, she decided that photography was her passion and began traveling the United States photographing rural populations. This journey led her to the South, where she met the Gullah Geechee and Appalachian peoples, whom she would later become best known for photographing. Ulmann worked with the author Julia Peterkin to create a book of pictorial studies of African Americans in the south, titled Roll, Jordan, Roll.

Throughout her career as a photographer, Doris Ulmann worked to capture what she perceived to be dying traditions of the Appalachian Region. Although she photographed both children and young adults, during her time in Appalachia the majority of her pictures focused on elders. Ulmann’s fascination with age sprouted from the idea that aged faces represented knowledge, experience, and a sense of maturity.

Her passion for Appalachian people led her to Berea College, where the college assisted her in documenting the crafts and traditions found in the Berea, Kentucky, and the surrounding region. As a result of this partnership, she left a monetary bequest to Berea College upon her death in 1934, as well as more than 3,000 of her photographs. This gift led to the construction of a new gallery space on the college’s campus, which was dedicated to Doris Ulmann and her work documenting Appalachian people and their traditions.