Hester Davis and John Grant were anthropology graduate students at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, when the images in this collection were taken between 1955-1956. Davis and Grant went with a group of anthropology graduate students to do field work observing the Cherokee community in Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation in western North Carolina. They used their findings (including images in this collection) to write their masters theses, which were both published in 1957.
From the guide to the Hester A. Davis and John L. Grant Collection, 1955-1957, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives.)