party

The chap third left reaching for the half empty beer glass appears to be holding a kitten to his chest. Interesting that they had planned an evening party with a torch and a hurricane lantern. And it must be time for refills judging by the empty glasses being held at the back, wonder where the beer is? That crate in the foreground with the corner of the table cloth lifted by the breeze looks promising; the sandwich on the plate won't go far though.

see these photos of Republican women, which look to have been taken at the same place, possibly a rooftop.

Republicans gathered in New York to officially notify C.E. Hughes on July 31, 1916 of his selection as their presidential candidate. Chairman of the committee was Ohio Senator Warren G. Harding, later to be president himself. I think that's him seated at center right with the white hair and black eyebrows. select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00B16FF355B1773... query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=FA0711FD355B17... The Times article mentions "two negroes, Henry Johnson of South Carolina and Dr. J.R. Levy of Georgia, who occupied prominent seats behind the nominees" The Times scrambled the facts a bit. I assume Levy and Johnson are the two African-Americans in the back row, at far right and sixth from right. Dr. James R. Levy (1861-1936) was a prominent physician, civic leader and civil rights activist from Florence, South Carolina. He was a delegate to 5 Republican conventions. The National Medical Association eulogized him here: pubmedcentralcanada.ca/picrender.cgi?accid=PMC2623648&... Based on a 1912 picture, I think Levy is 6th from right: digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm... Henry Lincoln Johnson was a delegate at large from Georgia. He was Washington, D.C. resident, now more famous as the husband of African-American poet and playwright Georgia Douglas Johnson, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Douglas_Johnson . He was an attorney and had moved to D.C. from Georgia in 1910 when President Taft appointed him as Recorder of Deeds for Washington, D.C. His entry at politicalgraveyard.com: politicalgraveyard.com/bio/johnson4.html A segment on Johnson from a history of Black Lawyers: books.google.com/books?id=1lOIjQUG4aoC&pg=PA195&l... I think that is Johnson at far right. LOC has 3 Harris & Ewing photos of him from 1914: www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=henry%20lincoln%20johnson%... The full list of committee members, of which this group is probably a subset, is here (note that Johnson is not listed as a member): books.google.com/books?id=Bi4GFJJT6AYC&pg=PA215&d...