Child with white chickens, taken between 1890 and 1922, by Hugh Mangum, via David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University (on flickr).
Mangum was a traveling photographer who worked along a rail circuit in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. You can see his portraits here.
A fenced-in backyard in Georgia, ca. 1899, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.
These photos were included in one of several albums depicting African American life, which were compiled by W. E. B. Du Bois for the 1900 Paris Exposition.
There’s a brief history of the American backyard here. Until the 20th century, it was a space for work, not recreation.
The queen poses in her side-yard kingdom with her horses and doll-courtiers, 1925, Euston District, New South Wales, via Museum Victoria.
Contributed by Beryl Leslie to “The Biggest Family Album of Australia” project.
Some men are born to own, and can animate all their possessions. . .
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Another nice backyard scene via Museum Victoria: John and George Lee with push mowers, September 1956, Greensborough, near Melbourne, Australia.
The photo was contributed by Mrs. Brenda Lee to The Biggest Family Album of Australia project.
Gerald Brocklesby of Blackburn (near Melbourne), Australia, jumps over the sprinkler in his family’s backyard, January 17, 1953, via Museum Victoria.
The photo was contributed by Mr Mark Brocklesby as part of the museum’s Melbourne’s Biggest Family Album project in 2006.
Fair seed-time had my soul. . .
— William Wordsworth, from “The Prelude“
enclos*ure 