“Say It with Pictures”

In 2018, the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago hosted a multi-tiered academic project led by Amy Mooney, Associate Professor of art history at Columbia College Chicago, on the under-recognized impact of African American commercial photographers working in Chicago from 1890 through the 1930s.

Then and Now: Chicago’s African American Photographers 1890-1930

Woodard’s Studio, Chorus Line, c. 1920, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Peter P. Jones, Two Entertainers, Chicago History Museum, Collection of Scotty Piper, IChi-173663.

R.D. Jones, Joyner’s Permanent Wave Machine , c. 1930. Marjorie Stewart Joyner Collection; Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature.

Guishinere Studio, Beatrice Hunter neé Carrington and unidentified sitter, c.1920, McGill Family Papers, Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature.

Patton’s Studio, Members of the Class in Parent Education, 1938, George Cleveland Hall Branch Archives, Chicago Public Library, Woodson Regional Library, Vivian G. Harsh Research Collection of Afro-American History and Literature

Electric Studio, Charlotte Paige Carroll, Chicago History Museum, Collection of Scotty Piper, ICHi-173664

The research project began with a public conversation between Amy Mooney and celebrated artist and photography historian Deborah Willis, and also included a scholarly workshop and two sessions at which the public was invited to share photographs and other pertinent source material. It will ultimately culminate in the creation of a ground-breaking interactive, digital exhibition and publication that will impact the history of photography. Read the press release here.

“Say It with Pictures” Then and Now: Chicago’s African American Photographers 1890-1930 is part of Art Design Chicago, an initiative of the Terra Foundation for American Art exploring Chicago’s art and design legacy, with presenting partner The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.