Photography and the Discipline of American Studies.

This article looks at photography as an integral part of American studies scholarship. Photography has allowed people to look at vernacular culture and has revealed the agency of people whose role in history was previously ignored or minimized. These populist or democratizing impulses have been at the core of photography's appearance in the field. Photography appeared relatively late as a serious object of study in the field of American studies. The American Studies Association was founded in 1951.