African American History

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African American History
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George Washington Carver

• Betsey Graves ReneauOil on canvas, 1942National
  Portrait Gallery, transfer from the Smithsonian
  Museum of American Art, gift of the George
  Washington Carver Memorial Committee to the
  Smithsonian Institution, 1944

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Harriet Tubman

• Harriet Tubman, ca. 1945William H. Johnson
  (1901-1970)oil on paperboardsheet 73.5 x 59.3
  cm. (29 3/8 x 23 3/8 in.)Gift of the Harmon
  FoundationSmithsonian Museum of American Art,
  Smithsonian

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The Black Wings Story

• Black Wings tells the story of how one group of
  Americans overcame enormous obstacles to break
  into aviation. African Americans shared the
  universal dream of flight

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Harlem Renaissance

• Street Life, Harlem, ca. 1939-1940William H.
  Johnson (1901-1970)oil on wood116.2 x 36.1 cm
  (45 3/4 x 38 5/8 in.)Gift of the Harmon
  FoundationSmithsonian Museum of American Art,
  Smithsonian

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African American Women Artists

• Old Arrow Maker, 1872carved marble54.6 x 64.6 x
  34.0 cm (21 1/2 x 13 5/8 x 13 3/8 in.)Gift of
  Joseph Sinclair

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The Papers of African American Artists

• The Archives of American Art, founded in 1954,
  has assembled the world's largest collection of
  material documenting the visual arts of the
  United States.

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African American Stories

• Aardema, Verna.
• Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain. Illus. by
  Beatriz Vidal. New York Pied Piper, 1981. This
  rhythmic read-aloud tale tells how Ki-pat
  ingeniously brings rain to the arid Kapiti Plain.

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Black Radio

• BLACK RADIO, produced by Radio Smithsonian and
  hosted by Lou Rawls, is the riveting documentary
  series of radio's role in the 20th-century
  transformation of the African American community.

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Jazz

• Smithsonian Folkways proudly celebrated the 50th
  anniversary of the original Asch Records release
  of Mary Lou Williams' work, Zodiac Suite

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Blues

• David "Honeyboy" Edwards embodies the continuity
  from blues' Mississippi Delta roots to electric
  Chicago blues.

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Baker, Josephine

• She sang professionally for the first time in
  1930, made her screen debut as a singer four
  years later, and made several more films before
  World War II curtailed her career.

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African American TV

• Look back at the history of black comedies, from
  Brian and Heather Uhl your Guides to TV Comedy.

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Bill Cosby

• Bill Cosby began as a stand-up comic and then
  became one of America's most beloved television
  stars.

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Sidney Poitier

• Sidney Poitier wasn't the first great
  African-American movie star. Stepin Fetchit has
  that honor, and he played the part offscreen in a
  flamboyant style that he was never allowed to
  adopt onscreen.

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Art and Black Activism

• Malcolm X, (1925-1965) and ministers, including
  Louis Farrakhan and NOI members at Harlem rally
  at 115th Street and Lenox Avenue, 1963 courtesy
  of Robert L. Haggins

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Curatorial Statement

• Reflections in Black A History of Black
  Photographers 1840 to the present is an
  exhibition project which presents photographs and
  photo media based art work produced by black
  photographers.

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Reflections In BlackThe First 100 Years The
First 100 Years A History of Black
Photographers, 1840 To The Present

• African Americans were, in fact, pioneers in the
  medium of photography Jules Lion began producing
  daguerreotypes in New Orleans in 1840, one year
  after the invention of the process.

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The First Years

• Marches, meetings, rallies, and leading figures
  such as Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and Martin Luther
  King, Jr., are seen in this section through the
  eyes of the leading photojournalists and
  documentarians of the day.

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Black History Deconstructed

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• The last two decades have seen African American
  artists deconstructing and reconstructing their
  personal histories and public personas.

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African diaspora

• American photographers began to place themselves
  in the greater context of a worldwide African
  diaspora, understanding the American civil rights
  movement as part of a much larger and older
  struggle for independence and equal rights.

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Graphic Historians

• Photographers sought to be graphic historians,
  creating a collective biography of African
  American people that would empower them in their
  struggle for civil rights, while at the same time
  providing evidence of the diversity of their
  individual histories, values, and goals.

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Million Man March

• African-American men from across the country
  gathered on Washington's National Mall October
  16, for a massive Million Man March advocating
  "unity, atonement and brotherhood".

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Million Man March advocating

• Some marchers stood silently and others raised
  clenched fists when they were told to, "bring the
  spirit of God back into your lives".