Black History Month Celebrated With Photo Display
Classic UPI Photos On Display At Skokie Public Library
Before the days of photo scanning, digital cameras, and personal computers, it was all too easy for memories to be lost forever if photographs were damaged, misplaced, or destroyed. And that’s exactly what almost happened to a phenomenal collection of nearly 70,000 United Press International photos taken between the 1930s and the 1970s. These remarkable photos were rescued by United Press International photographer Henry A. Scheafer, who worked at UPI for 54 years before the company closed its doors in the 1970s.
When United Press International closed its offices, these stunning black-and-white photos, and thousands like them, were headed to the dumpster. Scheafer recognized their value, and took the collection to his home. Nearly 90 of the salvaged photos are now on display in Illinois, at the Skokie Public Library, where the celebration of Black History Month will continue through April 2nd. Shot by various UPI photographers across five decades, the photos on display at the Skokie Public Library represent a historical documentation of significant events in the lives of African Americans.
One photo shows Olympians Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe greeting one another on a track in Milwaukee in 1935. In another, Duke Ellington smiles with pride as he is named Ambassador of Goodwill in 1969, the same year he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Many such joyous photos adorn the walks of the Skokie Public Library’s main lobby and downstairs display areas. But upstairs, the photos depict more disturbing and sometimes shameful events.
Here, the sports figures and entertainers give way to more tragic subjects; these decidedly graphic photos document the struggle of African Americans to endure violent oppression and win for themselves the basic civil rights that were denied them for hundreds of years. There are haunting images of lynchings and riots. One photo shows Mississippi Sheriff W.J. Vaughan standing over the dead body of Albert Gooden in 1937. Another depicts Black Panther leader Huey Newton, as he tells the media that he plans to testify in a murder trial on behalf of his successor.
There has been pressure from historians and other enthusiasts to preserve the collection via digital photo scanning, but Scheafer’s daughter, who is the current owner of the collection, chooses to treat each photograph as a unique work of art, rather than just an “image.” It is certainly true that the photos, though remarkable on an individual level, become something more significant when viewed together as part of a collection, capturing some of the most triumphant, and most tragic, moments in African American history.