Name/Title
"Baker's Grocery"Entry/Object ID
2016.9.1Description
Painting of white wooden storefront with a green roof and green doors. There are bars over the windows and various posters and advertisements on the exterior walls. The background shows tops of trees and telephone poles. The business name, "Baker's Grocery," hangs on a sign on the front of building with a Coca Cola logo above it. Six individuals, mostly children, stand separately near the store, all of whom are African American. One child looks through the store's front doors, each of which have six lights, or windows.The store sits on a dirt road. The signature of the artist is in the top right corner of the painting in green font.Type of Painting
EaselContext
A favorite subject of urban realist painter Edmund Yaghjian (1903-1997), Baker's Grocery was opened in 1926 by Ukrainian immigrant Clara Kligerman Baker at 931 Gates (Park) Street. Situated at the heart of Ward One—a working-class, Black neighborhood that formerly stood south and west of the University of South Carolina's historic campus—the store served as an unofficial community center for area residents, who frequented the establishment to purchase meat, medicine, and general merchandise, in addition to groceries. In 1967, Clara sold the store to long-time employee Oscar Shealy (1938-1977), who would continue its operation until it fell victim to urban renewal efforts around 1970.Made/Created
Date made
1977Place
City
Columbia, South CarolinaDimensions
Height
27-1/2 inWidth
35-1/2 in
