Research Catalog

Title

North Manhattan/Central Harlem Project photograph collection.

Author

North Manhattan Project.

Publication

[between 1965 and 1976?]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Anderson, Bill
• Bayer, Jeffrey
• Frey, George
• Miller, Dan
• Walker, Shawn
• Wray, Wendell
• Yearwood, Lloyd
• Greenspan Photo, photographer.

Found In

p1tc North Manhattan Project. North Manhattan/Central Harlem Project records, 1965-1981 (OCoLC)122378677

Description

• 420 items (3.8 cubic ft., 6 boxes); 43 x 51 cm or smaller.
• 20 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;
• 185 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;
• 112 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;
• 10 photographic prints : color ;
• 1 photomechanical print : halftone, black and white ;
• 92 paste-up boards : photographs, text ;

Summary

• Collection depicts library services, programs and events provided to the African American community of Harlem, New York, by the North Manhattan Project, of the New York Public Library, from 1965 to 1976. The collection consists of portraits and candid shots of library and project staff, patrons and visitors; views of reader services, children's programs, lectures, workshops, exhibits, literary readings and performances; and views of the interior of the Countee Cullen Branch Library where the project was conducted. Depicted throughout the collection are Project director Wendell Wray and Jean Blackwell Hutson, Curator of the Schomburg Collection of Negro Literature and History (later called the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture). Also included are the paste-up boards for the book "North Manhattan Project: A Pictorial Report, 1965-1972," consisting of many photographs taken for the project.
• The Library Services series shows library and project staff, patrons and visitors using Countee Cullen's adult reading rooms and children's rooms. Adult and young patrons are depicted consulting with the staff, searching the card catalog, and reading. Teenagers are shown listening to recordings and children are shown watching films, listening to talks and attending story hour. Collection includes photos of staff preparing for a young adults book fair and children participating in a print-making workshop in front of Countee Cullen.
• The Programs and Events series depicts the speakers, participants and performers in various project lectures, literary events, art exhibits, seminars, and performances. Included are the African Heritage Lecture Series, the Black Poetry Festival, and other author readings and book talks, whose featured speakers include Professors Leonard Jeffries and Elliot Skinner; illustrator Tom Feelings; Kenyan government official Tom Mbaya (1969); Kenyan editor Maina Kagombe; artist Elton Fax; authors Alex Haley, Virginia Hamilton, Albert Murray, John O. Killens, and Vertamae Grosvernor; and poets Jayne Cortez, Ted Joans (1969), June Jordan (1970), Nikki Giovanni, and Sonia Sanchez (1971).
• Depictions of art gallery exhibits consist of group portraits and candid shots of artists, visitors and library staff that include Ghanaian diplomat Lawford Antwi, a sponsor of the Contemporary Ghanaian Art Exhibit (1970); Weusi artists Abdullah Aziz and Otto Neals (1967); and exhibition visitors that include Roy DeCarava, Rosa Guy, Ted Poston, [Richard] Bruce Nugent, Stokely Carmichael, Gordon Parks, and Lofton Mitchell. Also depicted is a panel discussion on Black Theater that includes Alice Childress, John Henrik Clarke, Ernest McClintock, Mical Whitaker and Lofton Mitchell; and views of music and dance performances that include the Sun Ra Arkestra, the Ishangi Dancers, the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing Glee Club (1966), and Saundra Sharp and Norman Matlock in "Poets and Performers."

Subjects

• Dye coupler prints > 1960-1989
• Gelatin silver prints > 1960-1989
• Group portraits > 1960-1989
• Harlem (New York, N.Y.) > Social conditions
• Libraries and community > New York (State) > New York
• Children's rooms
• Book talks > 1965-1981
• Libraries > Activity programs
• Library exhibits
• Libraries and minorities
• Libraries and the poor
• Public libraries
• Library users
• African Americans and libraries
• Libraries > 1965-1981
• North Manhattan Project
• New York Public Library > Countee Cullen Branch
• Wray, Wendell
• Hutson, Jean Blackwell, 1914-1998
• Sanchez, Sonia, 1934-
• Jordan, June, 1936-2002
• Giovanni, Nikki

Genre/Form

• Group portraits – 1960-1989.
• Gelatin silver prints – 1960-1989.
• Dye coupler prints – 1960-1989.

Note

• Title taken from North Manhattan/Central Harlem Project Records.
• Some photographs bear photographer's or photography studio's handstamp on verso. Some items bear handwritten captions or notations on verso. Some items are cropped. Some items are mounted; some items are affixed to paste-up boards. A few items are duplicates.
• Collection contains work by Bill Anderson, Jeffrey Bayer, George Frey, Dan Miller, Shawn Walker, Wendell Wray, Lloyd Yearwood, and Greenspan Photo, among others.

Terms of Use (note)

• Some items are under copyright; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography (note)

• The North Manhattan Project, begun in 1965 with city, state and federal funding, was created to show the impact that enriched library services could have on a disadvantage community. The project emphasized increased book collections, meaningful programs and events, and training opportunities. Later the name changed to the Central Harlem Project to reflect its expansion to the area served by five other branch libraries in Harlem.

Linking Entry (note)

• Forms part of the North Manhattan/Central Harlem Project records, 1965-1981.

Publications (note)

• North Manhattan Project: a pictorial report, 1965-1972. [New York] : New York Public Library, [1972?]

Call Number

Sc Photo North Manhattan/Central Harlem Project Collection

OCLC

1288343400

Author

North Manhattan Project.

Title

North Manhattan/Central Harlem Project photograph collection.

Production

[between 1965 and 1976?]

Type of Content

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

sheet

Terms Of Use

Some items are under copyright; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography

The North Manhattan Project, begun in 1965 with city, state and federal funding, was created to show the impact that enriched library services could have on a disadvantage community. The project emphasized increased book collections, meaningful programs and events, and training opportunities. Later the name changed to the Central Harlem Project to reflect its expansion to the area served by five other branch libraries in Harlem.

Linking Entry

Forms part of the North Manhattan/Central Harlem Project records, 1965-1981.

Publications

North Manhattan Project: a pictorial report, 1965-1972. [New York] : New York Public Library, [1972?]

Local Note

Sc MG 348

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Added Author

Anderson, Bill, photographer.

Bayer, Jeffrey, photographer.

Frey, George, photographer.

Miller, Dan, photographer.

Walker, Shawn, photographer.

Wray, Wendell, photographer.

Yearwood, Lloyd, photographer.

Greenspan Photo, photographer.

Found In:

p1tc North Manhattan Project. North Manhattan/Central Harlem Project records, 1965-1981 (OCoLC)122378677

Research Call Number

Sc Photo North Manhattan/Central Harlem Project Collection