Photographs of prominent African Americans
Scope and Contents
Dates
- 1875-1978
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Arrangement
Extent
7.55 Linear Feet (32 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
History of the Collection
The library at one time maintained several photograph files within the JWJ Memorial Collection dedicated to images of and by African Americans. These files included photographs donated by Carl Van Vechten, Johnson's widow Grace Nail Johnson, and Langston Hughes, as well as photographs acquired from other sources. For many years, photographs that came to the library as part of manuscript collections were also removed from their original context and added to the files. This practice was reversed beginning in the 1990s; as manuscript collections were processed, photographs were repatriated whenever it was possible to determine their provenance, and when it was clear that they had not been given specifically for the separate photograph files. In 2012, what remained of five separately described runs of files classed as JWJ Zan5 were joined to form this collection.
Processing Information
Formerly classed as JWJ Zan5 +1, JWJ Zan5 +2, JWJ Zan5 +3, JWJ Zan5 +4, JWJ Zan5 +5, and Za Objects. Series I-V in this collection reflect these original groupings, with the following exceptions:
Photographs collected by Langston Hughes once classed with JWJ Zan5 +2 have been returned to the Langston Hughes Papers (JWJ MSS 26). Photographs donated by Poppy Cannon White were removed from JWJ Zan5 +2 and returned to the Walter Francis White and Poppy Cannon Papers (JWJ MSS 38). Photographs collected by Chester Himes were removed from JWJ Zan5 +2 and incorporated into the Chester Himes Papers (JWJ MSS 42). Photographs by Carl Van Vechten once classed with the former JWJ Zan5 +3 have been returned to the Carl Van Vechten Papers (JWJ Van Vechten). Photographs by or collected by Richard Wright once classed with the former JWJ Zan5 +3 have been incorporated into the Richard Wright Papers (JWJ MSS 3).
- Abbott, Berenice, 1898-1991
- Adams, J. J. -- Portraits
- Adler, Felix, 1851-1933 -- Portraits
- African Americans -- Portraits
- Aldridge, Ira Frederick, -1867 -- Portraits
- Ali, Drew, 1886-1929 -- Portraits
- Allen, Betty, 1927-2009 -- Portraits
- Amenia Conference (1933)
- Anderson, Eddie, 1905-1977 -- Portraits
- Anderson, Marian, 1897-1993 -- Portraits
- Armstrong, S. C. (Samuel Chapman), 1839-1893 -- Portraits
- Attwell, Joseph Sandford -- Portraits
- Bagnall, Robert W. -- Portraits
- Bailey, Pearl, 1918-1990 -- Portraits
- Baker, Josephine, 1906-1975 -- Portraits
- Ballard, George -- Portraits
- Barnwell, F. Rivers -- Portraits
- Barthé, Richmond, 1901-1989
- Bearden, Romare, 1911-1988 -- Portraits
- Beavers, Louise, 1902-1962 -- Portraits
- Belafonte, Harry, 1927- -- Portraits
- Benga, Feral -- Portraits
- Bentley, Gladys -- Portraits
- Blacks -- Portraits
- Blake, Eubie, 1887-1983 -- Portraits
- Blodgett, Thomas -- Portraits
- Bolivar, William C. -- Portraits
- Bolling, Leslie Garland, 1898- -- Portraits
- Bricktop -- Portraits
- Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
- Brooks, Jess Lee, 1894-1944 -- Portraits
- Brown, Al, 1902-1951 -- Portraits
- Brown, E. W. -- Portraits
- Browne, Marie Joe, 1902-1999 -- Portraits
- Bryson, Arthur -- Portraits
- Buck, Gene -- Portraits
- Burleigh, H. T. (Harry Thacker), 1866-1949 -- Portraits
- Burrill, Mary, 1884-1946 -- Portraits
- Butterbeans & Susie (Musical group) -- Portraits
- Bynum, James -- Portraits
- Cartwright, Marguerite, 1910-1986 -- Portraits
- Carver, George Washington, 1864?-1943 -- Portraits
- Cayton, Horace R. (Horace Roscoe), 1903-1970 -- Portraits
- Ceruti, E. Burton, 1874-1927 -- Portraits
- Chesnutt, Charles W. (Charles Waddell), 1858-1932 -- Portraits
- Cinque -- Portraits
- Cole Grammar School
- Cole, Bob, 1868-1911 -- Portraits
- Cole, Louis -- Portraits
- Cole-Talbert, Florence -- Portraits
- Coleridge-Taylor, Samuel, 1875-1912 -- Homes and haunts
- Cooley, Howard -- Portraits
- Cosme, Eusebia -- Portraits
- Courtney, Augusta Bird -- Portraits
- Coussey, Anne Marie -- Portraits
- Cullen, Countee, 1903-1946 -- Portraits
- Darrow, Clarence, 1857-1938 -- Portraits
- Day, Carita -- Portraits
- De Lyon-Leonard, Emma -- Portraits
- Dodson, Owen, 1914-1983 -- Portraits
- Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 -- Portraits
- Dover, Cedric -- Portraits
- Driskell, David C., 1931-
- Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963 -- Portraits
- Dumas, Alexandre, 1802-1870 -- Portraits
- Dunbar, Paul Laurence, 1872-1906 -- Portraits
- Dunbar-Nelson, Alice Moore, 1875-1935 -- Portraits
- Dunn, Blanche -- Portraits
- Dustan, Gertrude Louise -- Portraits
- Ellington, Duke, 1899-1974 -- Portraits
- Ellison, Fanny McConnell -- Portraits
- Elzy, Ruby -- Portraits
- Estimé, Dumarsais, 1900-1953 -- Portraits
- Evanti, Lillian, 1890-1967 -- Portraits
- Fisher, Rudolph, 1897-1934 -- Portraits
- Fisk University
- Frick, Dorothy Peterson, 1897-1978 -- Portraits
- Fuller, Meta Warrick, 1877-1968 -- Portraits
- Gershwin, George, 1898-1937
- Girvin, Virginia -- Portraits
- Gordon, Taylor, 1893-1971
- Grant, Frances O. (Frances Olivia), 1895-1982 -- Portraits
- Grant, George Franklin, 1846-1910 -- Portraits
- Grant, Helene B. -- Portraits
- Hagan, Helen Eugenia, 1893-1964 -- Portraits
- Haiti -- Pictorial works
- Hall, Adelaide -- Portraits
- Hall, Edward -- Portraits
- Hammond, Arthur -- Portraits
- Hampton Institute -- Pictorial works
- Hampton, Lionel -- Portraits
- Handy, W. C. (William Christopher), 1873-1958 -- Portraits
- Harlem (New York, N.Y.) -- Pictorial works
- Harrison, Richard B. -- Portraits
- Haynes, George Edmund, 1880-1960 -- Portraits
- Heide, Hans Rogge -- Portraits
- Henson, Matthew Alexander, 1866-1955 -- Portraits
- Hesselius, John -- Portraits
- Hill, Ella -- Portraits
- Hill, Errol -- Portraits
- Hill, Wesley -- Portraits
- Hill, William Anthony, 1907-1975 -- Portraits
- Hitchens, Robert -- Portraits
- Hogan, Ernest, 1865-1909 -- Portraits
- Holiday, Billie, 1915-1959 -- Portraits
- Holloway, Jocelyn -- Portraits
- Holt, Nora Douglas, 1885-1974 -- Portraits
- Horne, Lena -- Portraits
- Howard School (Fayetteville, N.C.)
- Hudson, Roy D. -- Portraits
- Huffman, Eugene Henry -- Portraits
- Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967
- Hurston, Zora Neale, 1891-1960 -- Portraits
- Hutchinson, Leslie A., 1900-1969 -- Portraits
- Imes, Elmer Samuel, 1883-1941 -- Portraits
- Ingram, Rex, 1895-1969 -- Portraits
- Jackman, Harold, 1901-1961 -- Portraits
- Jackson, Levi -- Portraits
- Jacksonville (Fla.) -- Pictorial works
- James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of Negro Arts and Letters (Yale University)
- Jarboro, Caterina -- Portraits
- Jasmin, Joseph -- Portraits
- Jeffers, Robinson, 1887-1962 -- Portraits
- Jeffers, Una, 1884 or 1885-1950 -- Portraits
- Johnson, Grace Nail, 1885-1976 -- Portraits
- Johnson, Hall, 1888-1970 -- Portraits
- Johnson, J. Rosamond (John Rosamond), 1873-1954 -- Portraits
- Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938 -- Portraits
- Joseph, Antonio -- Portraits
- Joseph, Louis -- Portraits
- Jubilee Singers -- Portraits
- Kamoinge Workshop
- Kane, Robert S. -- Portraits
- Karamu Artist Exhibition
- Kid Chocolate, 1910-1988 -- Portraits
- King, James Henry -- Portraits
- Knoxville College
- Komroff, Manuel, 1890-1974
- Lampkin, Charles, 1913-1989 -- Portraits
- Larsen, Nella, 1891-1964 -- Portraits
- Laughlin, Clarence John
- Leach, Henry Goddard, 1880-1970 -- Portraits
- Lee, George W. (George Washington), 1894-1976 -- Portraits
- Louis, Joe, 1914-1981 -- Portraits
- Lyon, Leviticus, 1894-1958 -- Portraits
- Magloire, Paul Eugène, 1907-2001 -- Portraits
- Man Ray, 1890-1976
- Maynor, Dorothy -- Portraits
- McClendon, Rose, 1884-1936 -- Portraits
- McDaniel, Hattie, 1895-1952 -- Portraits
- McKay, Claude, 1890-1948 -- Portraits
- McLeary, Minor Francis, b. 1876 -- Portraits
- Meers, Paul -- Portraits
- Miles, Lizzie -- Portraits
- Miller, Lucile V. -- Portraits
- Miller, Wayne, 1918-2013
- Mills, Florence, 1896-1927 -- Portraits
- Monosiet, Pierre -- Portraits
- Moore, Fred R. (Frederick Randolph), 1857-1943 -- Portraits
- Moton, Robert Russa, 1867-1940 -- Portraits
- Mundy, Tom -- Portraits
- Murphy, Isaac Burns, 1861-1896 -- Portraits
- Muse, Clarence -- Portraits
- New York Philharmonic
- New-York African Free-School
- Ojike, Mazi Mbonu, 1914-1956 -- Portraits
- Ovington, Mary White, 1865-1951 -- Portraits
- Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006
- Patterson, Louise Thompson, 1901-1999 -- Portraits
- Payne, John -- Portraits
- Periquet, Fernando, 1873-1940 -- Portraits
- Perkins, Julius -- Portraits
- Peterson, Cornelia White -- Portraits
- Peterson, Jerome Bowers -- Portraits
- Peterson, Jerome Sidney -- Portraits
- Peyton, Philip -- Portraits
- Philippines -- Pictorial works
- Photographic prints
- Pierre, Frédéric -- Portraits
- Pogue, Florabelle -- Portraits
- Polk, Oscar -- Portraits
- Pope, Aitken -- Portraits
- Price, Leontyne, 1927- -- Portraits
- Primus, Pearl -- Portraits
- Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeevich, 1799-1837 -- Portraits
- Ram Gopal, 1917- -- Portraits
- Randolph, Dorothy -- Portraits
- Reading, Bertice -- Portraits
- Ritchie, Martha -- Portraits
- Robeson, Eslanda Goode, 1896-1965 -- Portraits
- Robeson, Paul, 1898-1976 -- Portraits
- Robeson, Paul, Jr., 1927-2014 -- Portraits
- Robinson, A'Lelia Walker, 1885-1931 -- Portraits
- Robinson, Bill, 1878-1949 -- Portraits
- Robinson, James H., 1907-1972 -- Portraits
- Robinson, Thelma -- Portraits
- Robinson, Wilbur -- Portraits
- Robinson-Wayne, Beatrice -- Portraits
- Rosen, Abigail -- Portraits
- Schuyler, Philippa, 1932-1967 -- Portraits
- Scott, Emmett J. (Emmett Jay), 1873-1957 -- Portraits
- Scott, Harold, 1935-2006 -- Portraits
- Scott, Hazel -- Portraits
- Sims, Olive -- Portraits
- Smith, Clara -- Portraits
- Smith, Hattie -- Portraits
- Southernaires (Vocal group) -- Portraits
- Spencer, Anne, 1882-1975 -- Portraits
- Spingarn, Amy Einstein, 1883-1980 -- Portraits
- Spingarn, Arthur B. (Arthur Barnett), 1878-1971 -- Portraits
- Spingarn, Joel Elias, 1875-1939 -- Portraits
- Steichen, Edward, 1879-1973
- Steinberg, Benjamin, 1915-1974 -- Portraits
- Still, William Grant, 1895-1978 (Four indigenous portraits)
- Storey, Moorfield, 1845-1929 -- Portraits
- Summers, Thomas Osmond, 1849-1899 -- Portraits
- Tarry, Ellen, 1906-2008 -- Portraits
- Taylor, Jack -- Portraits
- Thayer, Alonzo -- Portraits
- Thomas, Edna -- Portraits
- Thompson, C. M. -- Portraits
- Thrasher Wonders (Musical group) -- Portraits
- Thurman, Wallace, 1902-1934 -- Portraits
- Tougaloo (Miss.) -- Pictorial works
- Townsend, Elizabeth -- Portraits
- Troubadours (Musical group) -- Portraits
- Tutt, J. Homer -- Portraits
- Tynes, Margaret -- Portraits
- Ulmann, Doris, 1882-1934
- Vincent, Sténio, 1874-1959 -- Portraits
- Walker, Aida Overton, 1880-1914 -- Portraits
- Walker, George, 1873-1911 -- Portraits
- Walker, Jack -- Portraits
- Walker, Margaret, 1915-1998 -- Portraits
- Wallace, Richetta G. (Randolph) -- Portraits
- Walls, Louberta -- Portraits
- Ward, John Quincy Adams, 1830-1910
- Warfield, William -- Portraits
- Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915 -- Portraits
- Washington, Fredi, 1903-1994 -- Portraits
- Waters, Ethel, 1896-1977 -- Portraits
- White, Charles, 1918-1979 -- Portraits
- Whitney, Salem Tutt -- Portraits
- Williams, Bert, 1874-1922 -- Portraits
- Williams, Lottie -- Portraits
- Wong, Anna May, 1905-1961 -- Portraits
- Wright, Richard, 1908-1960 -- Portraits
Creator
- James Weldon Johnson Memorial Collection of Negro Arts and Letters (Yale University)
- Hughes, Langston, 1902-1967 (Collector)
- Johnson, Grace Nail, 1885-1976 (Collector)
- Johnson, James Weldon, 1871-1938 (Collector)
- Van Vechten, Carl, 1880-1964 (Collector)
- Title
- Guide to Photographs of Prominent African Americans
- Author
- by Beinecke Staff
- Date
- 2013
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.