Doris Ulmann (1882–1934), born in New York City, discovered photography while training as a teacher and later studied under Clarence H. White before committing to a professional career in 1918. Initially known for her Pictorialist-style studio portraits, she shifted in the mid-1920s toward documenting rural American life as modernization threatened long-standing traditions. Ulmann traveled extensively through Appalachia and nearby regions, photographing communities such as the Dunkards, Shakers, and Mennonites, and collaborated with folklorist John Jacob Niles. Her most celebrated work, created from 1927 to 1934, includes the images for Julia Peterkin’s Roll, Jordan, Roll and stands today as a vital record of Black and white southern folk culture, marking a key transition in American photography from Pictorialism to documentary practice.