The nanny photographs in this exhibition, dating from 1840 to 1920, offer early and consistent visual documentation of African American care givers and white children. These photographs, along with written narratives and visual materials from Rose Library’s book and manuscript collections, supply critical counter-narratives to the well-known “mammy” stereotype and emphasize the undeniable humanity of each of the individuals shown. By looking at these portraits closely, we can tease out new insights into what is, perhaps, the most complex inter-racial relationship in American life.