McCrary & Branson

McCrary & Branson was a commercial art gallery and portrait studio that operated for approximately 30 years in the late 19th and early 20th century in Knoxville, Tennessee in the United States.

[3] In addition to stereoscopic views,[4] and posed portraits of wealthy whites,[5] they trafficked in a number of racist lithographs depicting blacks in crude and stereotyped scenarios.

[6] The panoramic lithographs included titles like "The Last One In's a Nigger," "Ain't Gwine Be No Rine,"[7][8] and "All Coons Look Alike to Me,"[9] the last of which was also a popular song of the day.

[20] Frank McCrary may have composed the firm's bestselling Alligator Bait lithograph; according to a 1900 feature article about Branson, "His partner showed it to him declaring it would prove popular and had it copyrighted.

"[21] According to the Knoxville Museum of Art, "Branson devised a method of producing vivid portraits based on photographs, which provided his primary income as an artist.