Material History of American Religion Project

Picturing Faith: Religious America in Government Photography, 1935 - 1943

Baptism
Marion Post Wolcott
August 1940
Morehead, Kentucky

By standing on a nearby bridge to get a wide-angle perspective, Marion Post Wolcott created a photograph where the actions of the religious community are highlighted. She presents a congregation of Primitive Baptists as they establish a close bond between their world and the world of the New Testament by baptizing their new members as John baptized Jesus in the River Jordan. At this moment, the people being baptized are separated from the congregation, but they will eventually join it as full members of the church.

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