Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. FSA/OWI Collection (Library of Congress), sponsor

Description

1. 38 items (.8 cubic ft., two boxes); 36 x 28 cm and smaller.

Summary

1. Depictions primarily of African Americans living in Washington, D.C. and New York City during the 1940s. The collection consists of individual and group portraits of young children and some adolescents at home or in their communities (1942-1943); views of housing conditions for individuals and families (1942-1943); a government charwoman at her job (1942); religious services (1942); a Black youth and white youth at an interracial summer camp (1943); and a meeting of Washington, D.C auxiliary police (1942). Many images reflect living and social conditions, particularly for children and families, living in Southwest Washington, D.C. and Harlem, New York. Of note are depictions of Ella Watson, a government charwoman in Washington, D.C., that include views of her home, her adopted daughter, and her grandchildren, as well as her office cleaning job (1942).
2. Also included are a studio portrait of baritone Todd Duncan (1941); a portrait of a Detroit, Michigan, couple on their way to church (1950); and view of a mother and her family meeting with a poverty board representative (1967).

Subject

1. African Americans -- Economic & social conditions -- Washington (D.C.) -- 1940-1949
2. African Americans -- Economic & social conditions -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1940-1969
3. African Americans -- Children -- 1940-1959
4. African American families
5. African American singers
6. African Americans -- Social life -- 1940-1959
7. Manners & customs -- United States -- 1940-1959
8. African Americans -- Employment -- Washington (D.C.) -- 1940-1949
9. City & town life -- United States -- 1940-1959
10. Harlem (New York, N.Y.)
11. Washington (D.C.)

Genre/Form

1. Portrait photographs – 1940-1959.
2. Group portraits – 1940-1969.
3. Gelatin silver prints – 1940-1969.

Call number

1. Sc Photo Portfolio (Parks, G.)

Note

1. Title devised by cataloger.
2. Some items bear Farm Security Administration hand stamp on verso. Some items have typewritten caption labels attached to verso; some items bear handwritten captions on verso. Some items are duplicates.
3. Some items are either matted (53 x 41 cm mats) or mounted (51 x 38 cm or smaller mounts) with window mats removed.
4. Collection includes work produced for the Farm Security Administration, the Office of War Information and Life Magazine.

Terms of use (note)

1. Collection is under copyright; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography (note)

1. Gordon Parks, 1912-2006, was an African American photographer, filmmaker, writer and composer. Parks is best known as a staff photographer for Life Magazine (1948-1972) and a freelancer for Vogue and Glamour magazines (late 1940s); a documentary photographer for the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information (1942-1944) and the Standard Oil Photography Project (late 1940s); director of the films "The Learning Tree" (1969) and "Shaft" (1971); and author of the semi-autobiographical novel "The Learning Tree" (1963), books of poetry, and manuals on photography and filmmaking.

Author

1. Parks, Gordon, 1912-2006, photographer.

Title

1. [Photographs] / Gordon Parks.

Production

1. 1941-1967.

Type of content

1. still image

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. sheet

Terms of use

1. Collection is under copyright; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography

1. Gordon Parks, 1912-2006, was an African American photographer, filmmaker, writer and composer. Parks is best known as a staff photographer for Life Magazine (1948-1972) and a freelancer for Vogue and Glamour magazines (late 1940s); a documentary photographer for the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information (1942-1944) and the Standard Oil Photography Project (late 1940s); director of the films "The Learning Tree" (1969) and "Shaft" (1971); and author of the semi-autobiographical novel "The Learning Tree" (1963), books of poetry, and manuals on photography and filmmaking.

Connect to:

1. NYPL Digital Collections
2. Request Appointment

Added author

1. FSA/OWI Collection (Library of Congress), sponsor.

Research call number

1. Sc Photo Portfolio (Parks, G.)