The Institute for Arts & Media, Department of Journalism at California State University, Northridge has received a $290,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities for the creation of a digital database of the university’s African-American photography collection, which contains more than 550,000 images by pioneering black photographers Harry Adams, Guy Crowder and Charles Williams.
Adams, Crowder and Williams documented the social, cultural and political aspects of African-American life in post-war Los Angeles and Southern California and, in doing so, threw the power of a photographer’s lens on nationally significant themes such as racial segregation and discrimination, the civil rights movement, African-American entertainment and cultural leaders, and major political and cultural events.
The project would digitally preserve about 19,730 images from the Adams, Crowder and Williams collections and make them available to researchers and educators, including elementary, middle and high school teachers, online through CSUN’s Oviatt Library Digital Collections. The project is expected to take three years to complete. Read more.
Also see related Los Angeles Times article.
Image: Dr. King protesting at Los Angeles area Woolworth's department store for discriminatory practices.