Theodore Hudson, an Archives Center volunteer and former professor at Howard University, is the curator of the exhibition, and David Haberstich, the Archives Center's curator of photography, served as a consultant to prepare and install the display in the summer home of Frederick Douglass. During segregation, Highland Beach was an important African American community and summer retreat.

The exhibition features more than 30 photographs selected by Hudson based on his personal knowledge and research to illustrate connections between Washington, D.C., and Highland Beach, Md., especially through Washingtonians who had summer homes at the resort. The exhibition was made possible in part with funds from the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority, an instrumentality of the state of Maryland.

The Scurlock photographic studio was an important fixture in the African American community of Washington from 1911 to 1994. In 1911 Addison N. Scurlock founded a studio and his sons, Robert and George Scurlock, served as apprentices with him to learn the business. Addison Scurlock died in 1964 and his sons ran the business until it closed in 1994 when Robert Scurlock died. Known as one of the most renowned African American photographers, Addison N. Scurlock not only documented the community, Howard University and African American interactions with the federal government, but he also photographed famous African American entertainers, such as Duke Ellington and prominent leaders, such as the diplomat Ralph Bunche. In 1948, Robert and George Scurlock managed the Capital School of Photography. Among their students was a young Jacqueline Bouvier. In 1952, Robert Scurlock opened Custom Craft, the first color processing laboratory for professional photographers in Washington.

The National Museum of American History acquired the Scurlock Studio archive from Robert Scurlock's heirs Vivan and George Scurlock. An estimated 200,000 photographs, including approximately 150,000 original negatives, are in the Archives Center's collection. Photographic equipment, studio furniture and other artifacts are in the museum's photographic history collection. -- www.americanhistory.si.edu