The University Libraries acquired this set of photographs from a rare-book dealer in New Jersey who described them as depicting people and activities of a Black Catholic school in Iowa in the 1940s and '50s. Little information accompanied the images other than scant handwritten identification on the verso of several; others contained instructions for cropping and sizing the images for printing. Upon investigation, library staff determined that the photos were actually from St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Des Moines, Iowa. So, while the images do not depict Catholic education, they do depict Black culture and history in the U.S. Midwest in the middle of the 20th century.