Charles Franklin Moss

Charles Franklin Moss (1878-1961) was an African American photographer and painter born in Winchester, Virginia.

He was the first African American member of the Professional Photographers of America and reportedly designed the Flag of Pennsylvania.

[1][6] Soon after opening his studio, Moss received private tutor classes at Cooper Union where he studied sculpture.

[2][3] It was at the PAFA where he began working with Henry Ossawa Tanner, the first African American artist to earn international fame.

[2][8] Tanner was the son of an African Methodist Episcopal Church bishop whose works often included Middle East settings and religious themes.

Some of Moss' works are included in the collection of the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV), the Handley Library, and the Cumberland County Historical Society.

[3] Posthumous exhibits, with assistance from archivist Ruth E. Hodge, that feature Moss' works include at Carlisle's Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in 2001 and the MSV's Contributions: African Americans in the Shenandoah Valley in 2022-23.

Moss in the early 1900s
Moss (top left), his wife (bottom, second from right), mother (bottom, second from left), and children in 1917