The mysterious images of Hugh Mangum

They are the faces of a generation past slavery, anonymous portraits taken of Southerners at the dawn of a new century.

And for the last four years, New York researcher and photographer Sarah Stacke has been trying to bring their identities into focus.

"This image has remained one of my favorite," said Stacke. "She has a simple dress on, but she looks so real ... proud, and the way her shoulders are back, gaze off to the side. I would love to sit down and talk with her and learn about her life."

The pictures were taken by little known photographer, Hugh Mangum. He traveled across Virginia and North Carolina from 1890 to 1922. Rare for the time, Mangum photographed both blacks and whites, sometimes sitting them right after the next.