Black Artists and Activism: Harlem on My Mind (1969)

Black Artists and Activism : Harlem on My Mind (1969) Author(s): Bridget R. Cooks Source: American Studies, Vol. 48, No. 1 (Spring 2007), pp. 5-39 Published by: Mid-America American Studies Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40644000 . Accessed: 16/02/2014 11:50

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This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Black Artists and Activism: Harlem on My Mind (1 969)

Bridget R. Cooks

To meHarlem on My Mind is a discussion.It is a confrontation. It is education.It is a dialogue.And todaywe betterhave thesethings. Today there is a growinggap betweenpeople, and particularlybetween black people and whitepeople. And thisdespite the effortsto do otherwise.There is little communication.Harlem on MyMind will changethat.

- ThomasP. F. Hoving,Director The MetropolitanMuseum of Art * New YorkCity, August 1968

In 1969,the Metropolitan Museum of Art mounted Harlem on MyMind: CulturalCapital of Black America,1900-1968, an exhibitionthat sought to explorethe cultural history of the predominantly Black communityof Harlem, NewYork.2 At the center of one of the most controversial exhibitions in U.S. his- torywere the Met's decisions to reject Harlem residents from participating inthe exhibitionplanning and to exclude artwork by Harlem's thriving artist community fromits galleries. Near the end of the Civil Rights Movement and the beginning ofthe Black PowerMovement, Black cultureemerged in theMetropolitan not as creativeproducer but as ethnographicstudy.3 The decisionsto display African Americanpeople through oversized photo-murals and to dismisstheir input and artworkas unworthyof beingin themuseum made Harlem on MyMind a site

0026-3079/2007/4801-005$2.50/0 AmericanStudies, 48:1 (Spring2007): 5-39 5

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Figure 1: MetropolitanMuseum oj Artragade (1969). LloydYearwood, photographer.All rightsreserved, Lloyd Yearwood. forracial politics and debatesabout artistic quality and artversus culture in the UnitedStates. The conflictsbetween the Met and the Harlemart community engaged bothpolitical and aesthetic issues. For many Harlemites, the White mainstream artmuseum's refusal to engageHarlem's art community reeked of patronizing discriminatoryracial politics. The Met's decisionto representHarlem without incorporatingthe Harlem community set offa furyof protestand chargesof

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Black Artistsand Activism7 racism.Similarly, the museum's decision to excludeHarlem artists was metby disbeliefand sincereefforts to correctthe omission during the planning stages of theexhibition. Harlem artists were further insulted by theinclusion only of photographs.At the time the art world at largeor Harlem's art and photography communitiesdid notaccept photographs as a formof art.As a formof visual documentary,photography was an unacceptablerepresentation ofHarlem's rich artisticcommunity in one ofthe world's greatest art museums. In spiteof the directors' intention to increaseBlack- White communication, whatwas mostsignificant about Harlem on My Mind was notthe exhibition itself, butthe activism of the Black art communities inHarlem criticizing their omission. This communitymovement changed the discourse of Black artin mainstream Americanmuseum politics. In hissuccinct account of the significance of Harlem on My Mindfor American museums, Steven C. Dubin discussessome of the shortcomingsand criticisms of the exhibition concerning Black exclusion, charges of anti-semitism,and culturalconflict.4 Missing from his critique,however, is thecritical outcome: the increasingly powerful role of oppressedcommunities to organizetheir voices againstblatant omissions, disrespectful treatment, and culturalmisrepresentation by art museums in theUnited States. Harlemon My Mindcommanded attention not only because of theMet- ropolitan'sinternational status as an institutionof fine art, but also becausethe exhibitionwas themuseum's first attempt at representingAfrican Americans throughexhibition.5 The Met'sposition of privilege commanded attention makingthe impact of Harlem on MyMind wide reaching and influential. This essay exploresthe Metropolitan's impulse to becomesocially relevant, the issues at stakefor the Harlem art community, and thesignificance of theexhibition on thediscourse of Black art. Miscommunicationsbetween Harlem on MyMind organizers and the Har- lem artcommunities fueled Black activismto counterthe exhibition's cultural assertionin two ways. First, Black artistsand curators pressured mainstream art museumsto make institutional change by including Black artistsin their exhibitions,consulting members of Black arts communities regarding their representation,and hiring Black museum professionals. Second, Black artistsand curators respondedto theMetropolitan's disregard for Black artistsby increasingtheir effortsto curatetheir own exhibitions. The significanceof this activism moved beyondthe geographic and temporalscope of theMet galleriesand the 1960s New Yorkart world. Indeed, because of the museum's mistakes, the exhibition invigorateda movement of Black artists and museum professionals that changed theculture of the American art scene. Most immediately, their contribution be- camepart of the Black Arts Movement, in which Black artists,poets, actors, and writerstook hold of the creative history of Black Americans, connected with it, expandedit, and confronted mainstream America. The multifaceted response by Blackvisual arts communities to thefailure oí Harlemon MyMin d represented a publiccriticism of artmuseums' failure to recognizeliving cultures.

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Becauseof the Met's world renown for its remarkable collection of fine art, it seemsodd thatthe museum would produce a socio-documentaryexhibition aboutHarlem. The Met had establishedan identityas a culturalstronghold of artifactsand artistic knowledge. There were no practical,social, or professional expectationsthat the museum would take on an activerole in thesocial politics of theday, particularly in 1969. Politicallyand raciallythe United States was reelingfrom the events of 1968, the watershed year that saw theNorth Vietnam- ese TetOffensive which increased American opposition to the Vietnam war; the assassinationof Martin Luther King Jr. and subsequent riots in major American cities;the murder of seventeen-year-old Bobby Hutton of the Black Panther Party byOakland City Police; theassassination of Robert F. Kennedy;the police riot againstprotestors at theDemocratic National Convention in Chicago;and the raisedBlack Power fists of American track and field athletes Tommie Smith and JohnCarlos during the medal awards ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in MexicoCity. The strugglefor power that developed between the Met directorsand the Harlemart community over Harlem on MyMind 'had parallels in the struggle for publicschool decentralization and community control in the Ocean Hill-Browns- villearea of Brooklyn. Between 1967 and 1971,the primarily Black andPuerto Rican Ocean Hill-Brownsvillecommunity battled the UnitedFederation of Teachers(UFT) andthe New YorkBoard of Education to control the selection of publicschool faculty, administrators, and curriculum. In 1968,the local govern- ingboard of Ocean Hill-Brownsvilletransferred nineteen white administrators and faculty,that were perceived as obstaclesto communitycontrol of public schools,to the Board of Education headquarters to be reassigned.6Infuriated by thetransfer, the nineteen returned to their jobs thenext day where they were met byparents blocking the school entrances. Parentsin New Yorksuburbs already enjoyed community control over the publicschools without engaging in a strugglefor power. In heranalysis of the Ocean Hill-Brownsvilleconflict, Jane Anna Gordon explains,

Because therewas notsuch a sharpdiscrepancy in theracial demographicsof the populations of students and staff in subur- banschools, particular and episodic issues might have caused disagreementand dissension,but there was nota prevailing and omnipresentsense on thepart of schoolemployees that thechildren in the schools were fundamentally "other people's children."White normativity, inother words, unified those who controlledand those who inhabitedthe schools.7

In thecase ofOcean Hill-Brownsville,racial and ethnic differences politicized theissue of communitycontrol. What had provento be an unremarkable shiftof power within the predominantly white New York Board of Education and thesuburban public schools became a confrontationin which racial and ethnic

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Black Artists and Activism 9 discriminationand resentmentforcefully exploded between the Board and the Ocean Hill-Brownsvillecommunity.8 Similarly,the conflictregarding how to representthe people of Harlem spurreda strugglebetween those who controlledthe Met and theHarlem art community.Both the Board of Education/Ocean Hill-Brownsville and the Met/ Harlemcommunity struggles brought decades of class and ethnicresentment to theforefront. Both situationsinvolved Black-Jewish conflicts. The Ocean Hill-Brownsvillestruggle contributed tothe politicized context of the Harlem on MyMind exhibition. When plans for the exhibition were announced, contention betweenBlack andJewish communities in thecity was alreadyat a peak. Althoughit was peculiarthat the Met undertookan exhibitionabout the people of Harlemduring this time, four factors contributed to thedecision to createHarlem on My Mind.First, as mentionedin theepigraph of thisessay, the exhibitionwas conceivedof as an interventioninto the growingcultural gap betweenBlacks andWhites. Through the exhibition, the Met attemptedto be an ambassadorof racial harmony. However, what was initiallyconsidered a politicallysavvy exhibition managed to offendkey political, racial, and ethnic factions.In itself,the goal ofimproving cross-cultural relationships through the artswas notuncommon in the middle of the twentieth century. As earlyas 1922, realestate entrepreneur William E. Harmonestablished the Harmon Foundation to "acquaintthe public more generally in thecreative accomplishments in fine artsby Negroes" and "to recognize and promote the overlooked achievements of AfricanAmericans, and respond to the increase of racial tension in America."9 In 1940,documentary filmmakers had been using their medium to increase support forthe education of Black Americans, racial integration in theAmerican south, andto promoteWhite tolerance of Blacks.10 In 1955,Edward Steichen, director of theDepartment of Photographyat theMuseum of ModernArt (MoMA), in curatingthe groundbreaking photographic exhibition The Family of Man, in- tendedto promotepeace andpresent the commonalities between racial, ethnic, and religiousgroups internationally. Harlem on MyMind followed in thepath of thesesimplistic, if well intentionedprojects that contributed to solvingthe "Negroproblem." Second,during the late 1 960s, New York'ssocial elite enjoyed the season of RadicalChic madefamous by authorTom Wolfe. Planned as an opportunityto bridgeclass, racial, and ethnic divisions, these high society parties hosted activ- istsand leadersof organizationssuch as theBlack PantherParty and La Causa thatwere treated unjustly by the U.S. government.The eventsraised money for theguest groups and servedto relievethe guilt of theblue-blood New Yorkers thathosted them. In theprivate apartments of the wealthy, socialites would meet theexotic peoples they had only seen on television.Their meetings provided the opportunityfor hosts to showtheir peers that they were "hip" to thestruggle of thepolitically disfranchised ifnot the FBI's mostwanted.11 The crucialirony of this arrangement was thehosts' superficial understand- ingof theobjectified group's oppression on one handand thesincere desire to

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 10 Bridget R. Cooks maintainan ostentatiouslifestyle with their names in thepress on theother. In orderto sustainthis delicate balance, the Radical Chic had to avoid thedirect connectionbetween the two hands that would show how the wealth of the few is directlyconnected to the poverty of the many. The phenomenon of Radical Chic createda highlyorchestrated arrangement for the wealthy to protect their social statuswhile being moved by (butnot enough to actualchange) the struggles of theunderclass. Civil rightsleader Bayard Rustin was one of manyBlack Americanscritical of RadicalChic saying,"These people [theparty hosts] are reallysaying 'You sic 'em,nigger Panthers. You bring about a revolutionfor us whilewe go on livingour nice little jolly lives.You niggersdo it.We'll be right behindyou - ata considerabledistance.'"12 Dozens ofthese fundraising parties, whichoffered the wealthy an opportunityto livevicariously through the other, tookplace in New Yorkjust minutesaway fromthe Metropolitan Museum of Art.The museum's plan to mount Harlem on MyMind followed this social trend byextending the tantalizingly transgressive interracial event from Park Avenue to itsown galleries at the top of the art world. Although the Metropolitan is situ- atedin Manhattan'sUpper East Side at FifthAvenue and 82ndStreet, less than twomiles from the southern perimeter of Harlem, it is lightyears away from the socio-economicreality of Harlem. Third,under the command of Allon Schoener,director of theVisual Arts Programof the New YorkState Council on theArts and directorof theMetro- politanMuseum's Exhibition Committee, and ThomasP. F. Hoving,recently hireddirector of the Metropolitan, the museum's new leadershiphoped to mix currentcultural issues with the traditions of theprestigious institution. Before Hovingjoined the Met, he servedas theParks Commissioner and Administrator ofRecreation and Cultural Affairs for New York City in the liberal administration ofRepublican Mayor John V. Lindsay.In thatcapacity he earneda reputationfor non-traditionalprograms by organizing "be-ins, love-ins, traffic-free bike ridings, PuertoRican folkfestivals, and happenings."13Hoving had becomeknown as someonewho could combine elements of tradition with contemporary topics. To underscorethe importanceof curatingHarlem on My Mind and to reinforcehis decisionto take a riskby presentingit, Hoving referred to the Metropolitan'sCharter,

one of thestated missions of themuseum is to relateart to practicallife, and practicalliving to art.... We have this remarkableshow because the cityand the countryneed it. We putit on becausethis great cultural institution is indeed a crusadingforce attempting to enhancethe quality of ourlife, andto supportand buttress and confirm the deep and abiding importanceof humanism.14

Thoughunrecognized by Hovingand Schoener,the need to go beyondthe limitsof humanism to understand the specific attributes of cultural struggle, val-

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Figure2: "1920-1929:An UrbanBlack Culture,"Exhibition Gallery Museum Views,Interior. Special Exhibitions:Harlem on My Mind: CulturalCapital of Black America,1900-1968. GalleryInstallation: Photographed March 25, 1969; The MetropolitanMuseum of Art. Image © The MetropolitanMuseum ofArt.

Figure 3: "1900-1919: FromWhite to Black," ExhibitionGallery Museum Views,Interior. Special Exhibitions:Harlem on My Mind: CulturalCapital of Black America,1900-1968. GalleryInstallation: Photographed March 25, 1969; The MetropolitanMuseum of Art. Image © The MetropolitanMuseum ofArt.

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Figure4: "1930-1939: Depressionand HardTimes," Exhibition Gallery Mu- seumViews, Interior. Special Exhibitions: Harlem on MyMind: Cultural Capi- taloj BlackAmerica, 1900-1968. Gallery Installation: Photographed March 25, 1969; The MetropolitanMuseum of Art. Image © The MetropolitanMuseum ofArt.

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Figure5: "1900-1919:From White to Black Harlem,"Exhibition Gallery Mu- seumViews, Interior. Special Exhibitions: Harlem on MyMind: Cultural Capi- talof Black America, 1900-1968. Gallery Installation: Photographed March 25, 1969; The MetropolitanMuseum of Art. Image © The MetropolitanMuseum ofArt. ues,and politics was mostimportant for the cross-cultural success oí Harlemon MyMind. Schoener organized a popularhumanistic project instead of engaging ina reflectiveexamination and understanding ofthe diversity of the community thathe choseto represent. The exhibitionconsisted of thirteengalleries organized chronologically intothematic decade-long sections: 1900-1919: From White to Black Harlem; 1920-1929:An UrbanBlack Culture;1930-1939: Depression and Hard Times; 1940-1949:War, Hope and Opportunity;1950-1959: Frustration and Ambiva- lence; 1960-1968:Militancy and Identity.15 Textpanels marking the decades and thematic titles within each section hung fromthe gallery ceilings. Various wall layoutdesigns were used throughout the galleriesto displaymore than 2,000 photographs.16 Some walls held large-scale blackand white photomurals eighteen feet in height and of varying widths. Un- framedmounted photographs and reproductions of ephemera such as coversof theNAACP's The Crisismagazine, and advertisementsfor musical and dance performances,were arranged in horizontallines and regularand irregulargrid patternsapproximately six feetin heightdown to thefloor molding (figure 2).

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Some walls wereused dramaticallyas darkscreens for projected images of Harlemitesand streetscenes fromslide projectorssuspended from ceiling tracks.Four-sided columns displayed photographs of Harlem buildings, streets, and residentsin bothformal portraits and informalcommunity scenes. Some columns,topped with large photo-text cubes, stood over ten feet high in selected galleriesas ifthey were free standing sculpture (figures 3 and4). Severalof these towershighlighted notable Harlem figures such as elderresident Alice Payton "Mother"Brown and Billie Holidayin theirrespective decade galleries. Speakerscamouflaged in largecylinders, hung throughout the galleries, deliveredHarlem street sounds and music to visitors (figures 2 and5). Filmsand videoswere interspersed through the galleries to providefurther information, and a closed-circuittelevision showed the real-time activity at theintersection of SeventhAvenue and 125thStreet in Harlem.17Photographs punctuated with textwere suspended from the ceiling to create billboard-like visual timelines that markedimportant national events, such as theSupreme Court ruling in Brown v.Board of Education, 1954 (figure6). The exhibitionwas designedto provide a one-hourexperience for each visitor.18 The Harlemon My Mindcatalog contains only a smallpercentage of the photographsand ephemerafacsimiles displayed in theexhibition. The catalog does notprovide a senseof thephysical presence or spatialdimensions of the exhibition.19The picturesand textsprinted in theirrespective decade-long sec- tionswere represented on thegallery walls andphoto-text cubes inHarlem on MyMind, but their reproduction on thecatalog pages does noteven hint at the productionlevel of theexhibition. Instead of reprintingall of thephotographs, ephemera,object labels, and interpretivetexts peppered throughout the galleries,the catalog contains newspaper articles about Harlem from mainstream and Harlemcommunity newspapers and somephotographs. Hovingfulfilled his promiseto offera multi-mediaextravaganza through Harlemon MyMind, but critics from the Black and Whitepresses agreed that thistriumph of formwas deliveredat theexpense of content.Art critics were disappointed,calling Harlem on MyMind a sociologyexhibit rather than the art exhibitionthat they had expectedfrom the Met. Some artcritics wrote that the exhibitiondid notbelong in an artmuseum, and thereforethey were unquali- fiedto reviewit. In hisreview of the exhibition, New YorkTimes art critic John Canadayexplained that the exhibition, "presents a subjectvastly complicated, easily subjectto distortion,and just now so highlycharged emotionally that to evaluatethe show objectively is goingto be impossiblefor most people."20 Exhibitionreviewer Cathy Aldridge summarized her experience as a visitorfor theNew YorkAmsterdam News,

The subtlestaging of the show created this boxed-in feeling - its starkwhite walls, its crispblack and whitephotographs mostof which are life-sized.The fewillustrious figures who were createdas famousmen and womenin entertainment,

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jazz, anda fewother fields do littleto softenthe effect. With- outsoftness to alleviatethe stark black and whitenessof the showthe exhibit remains a starksemblance of a whiteman's view of a blacksection of thecity which was createdout of colorprejudice. ... It is a shamethat such an opportunitydid notcreate something of which all ofNew Yorkcan be proud. True,the photographs portray truth, but there are othertruths whichare missing from this exhibit.21

New YorkTimes art critic John Canaday wrote,

In itsbreadth and complexity the phenomenon of Harlem may be impossibleof [sic] expositionin popularterms except as a picturesquesurface or froman arbitrarilyadopted point of viewthat will include this, exclude that, in orderto developa predeterminedthesis I cannotsee thatan artcritic has any businessreviewing either [the book] or the exhibition unless he is also sureof himself as a sociologist,which lets me out.22

New YorkTimes art critic Grace Glueck professed,

To thisviewer, there is somethingterribly American about "Harlem."It panders to our penchant for instant history, packaged culture,the kind of photojournalistic "experience" that putsus ata distancefrom the experience itself. Instead of the full,rich, Harlem brew, it presents a freeze-driedHarlem that does noteven hint at flavor.23

The exhibition'slack of artworks,combined with the simplisticpresentation of Harlemprovided a disserviceto Harlemites,the art world, and exhibition visitors.Contemporary voices fromthe Black press agreedthat the exhibit was lackingin itsreflection of Harlemlife. In herNew YorkAmsterdam News article"Exhibit on Everybody'sMind," Cathy Aldridge wrote, "A whiteman's view of Harlemcan be objective,but when that objectivity is narrowin scope and shallowin depthwhat else couldresult but an unintelligentdisplay of his so-calledobjectivity."24 The lastand perhaps most influential factor leading to Harlem on MyMind was Schoener's previousexhibition curated for The Jewish Museum in New York in 1967.The goal ofPortal to America: The Lower East Side,1870-1925 was to designan exhibitiondedicated to the first American neighborhood for millions of immigrants.Schoener was a trainedart historian specializing in twentieth-century environmentalcriticism. He had nothad theopportunity to studythe history of JewishAmericans and found the chance to explore his own heritage appealing.25 Portalto America was a successfulexhibition in termsof itscritical reception,

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 16 BridgetR.Cooks itslocal culturalrelevance, and itsappeal to New Yorkers.It was essentiallya modelfor Harlem on MyMind. Both exhibitions addressed geographic spaces in New YorkCity and primarily used photomurals of documentaryimages for the gallerywalls. The catalogsfor the two exhibitions share the same artdirector, HarrisLewine, and designer,Herb Lubalin, and appearto be nearlyidentical in formatand concept.26The differencesbetween the two exhibitions however, causedthe fundamental tensions that created contention. Harlem on MyMind exploredsixty-eight years of history,bringing the discussion up to theyear of the exhibition.Portal to Americacovered fifty-five years in the Lower East Side, endingin 1925. This differencein timeperiods posed a challenge,not onlybecause Harlem on My Mindwas largerand chronologicallylonger than Portalto America, but also becausePortal to America relegated the discussion ofthe Jewish community safely to thepast while Harlem on MyMind included an explorationof the contemporary community. Harlem on MyMind's position as theMet's firstexhibition about the racial other presented an additionalchal- lenge,particularly during a volatileperiod of racial conflict between Black and Jewishcommunities. The exclusionof artwas a criticaldifference between Portal to America and Harlemon My Mind.Both exhibitionswere multimedia presentations of photographs,sounds, and slide projections,but Portal to Americaincluded forty-eightlithographs, paintings, drawings, and one sculptureby artistseither fromthe Lower East Side ordepicting notable neighborhood scenes and figures. Althoughinitial plans conceived Harlem on MyMind as "a multimediaexhibi- tionon thehistory of Harlem, since 1900,using photographs, paintings, prints, drawings,films, television recordings of soundsand voices,music and memo- rabilia,"later press coverage of the upcoming exhibition reflected the curatorial 27 decisionto omitpaintings and prints. Thesetexts described the exhibition as a "multi-mediaexhibit," and a "sociohistoricalcommunications environment" "notto be confusedwith an artshow."28 To supplementthe Portal to America exhibition catalog, The Jewish Museum publisheda separateanthology of fifteenessays about the Lower East Side by writerswho lived there or who testified to the profound effect that the neighbor- hoodhad on theirlives and on thelarger culture outside of the neighborhood's geographicboundaries.29 Included in thisanthology were biographies of each artistwhose work was inPortal to America and selected reproductions ofartworks in theexhibition. There was no additionalpublication for Harlem on MyMind thatcould offersupplemental testimony about life in Harlemor commentary aboutits artwork or artists. Through the inclusion of artwork and the companion publicationthat gave writersthe opportunity to pay tributeto and expressthe relevanceof the Lower East Side,the Portal to America exhibition and catalog provideda respectfuland inclusiveexamination. Likewise, the Harlem artists believedthat their artwork should have been privileged in an artmuseum exhibitionabout their community.

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Harlem-basedpainter, author, and mentor Romare Bearden made an "urgent request"to Hoving to meet about the accuracy of the exhibition regarding "serious questionsrelating both to the organization and the plans for presenting the artistic materialin thisimportant exhibit" by "a numberof artists,photographers, and otherinterested persons."30 In a letterto Schoenerdated June 6, 1968,Bearden expressedconcern about the lack of art in the exhibition saying, "importantly, I knowthe artists are not going to tolerate color transparencies of theirwork in an ArtMuseum. As I see it,the sort of showyou areputting together should be in theMuseum of the City of New York,The New- York Historical Society, or some similarplace."31 In a symposiumsponsored by the Met titled "The BlackArtist inAmerica," artist William T. Williamsstated his thoughtsabout the exclusion ofartwork from Harlem on MyMind,

One ofthe things that's happening is thatevery show that con- cernsBlack artistsis reallya sociologicalshow. The Harlem on MyMind show is a pointingexample of total rejection on thepart of theestablishment, of saying"Well, you're really notdoing art," or of not dealing with the artists that may exist ordo existin Harlem. These shows deal withthe sociological aspectsof a community,a historical thing.32

The exclusionof artworkand an anthologizedcritical commentary sent a mes- sage fromthe Met thatHarlem was a less serioussubject for examination than theLower East Side. AlthoughSchoener included art in the Lower East Side exhibition,he stated thatpaintings would have "detracted from the kind of experience I wanted to create,and [I] decidedto use onlyphotographs inthe Harlem exhibition."33 Paintings wouldhave testifiedto theartistic abilities of Black people and includedtheir pointof view. Uninterested inthis kind of sophisticatedcontribution, Schoener chose insteadto constructan atmospherethat would re-create the way thathe experiencedHarlem from his positionof privilege.The exclusionof artwas Schoener's strategyto re-createthe experience of Harlemon his mind.In fact, thedifference between Schoener 's conceptof Harlemand theway thepeople of Harlemwanted to be representedformed the great tension over Harlem on MyMind. This war overcultural representation illuminated what was at stake forthe Harlem community and for a largercommunity of Black Americans that wereinvested in howtheir story would be represented,packaged, and sold. In an effortto appear inclusive, Schoener spent the summer of 1967 selecting membersof a specialstaff to researchexhibition content and plan theoverall designof the galleries using the latest audio visual technology. With the help of JeanBlackwell Hutson, curator of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Cultureat the New YorkPublic Library in Harlem, Schoener assembled a three- person-research-advisorycommittee consisting of Hutson,Regina Andrews, a boardmember of the National Urban League, and John Henrik Clarke, a political

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 18 BridgetR.Cooks and culturalactivist in Harlem.These three were residents of Harlem and their jobs involvedthe history and politics of their community. In addition,Schoener organized a five-memberresearch staff for the exhibi- tionthrough the New YorkState Council on theArts including Robert Malone, exhibitiondesigner, Reginald McGhee, director of photographic research, Donald Harper,associate researcher and media director, A'lelia Nelson,community re- searchcoordinator, and Martin S. Moskof,exhibition graphic designer. This staff workedin a satelliteoffice housed in the Schomburg Center. Although McGhee, Harper,and Nelson were Black, none of the members of the research staff were fromHarlem.34 Because the research staff were not residents, their selection drew criticismfrom the research-advisory committee and Harlemartists, that were increasinglyinterested in theexhibition planning. Schoeneralso madea connectionwith the Harlem Cultural Council com- prisedof severalhundred members. Established in 1964 and led by executive directorEdward K. TaylorJr., the Harlem Cultural Council was a prominent Black advocacygroup that sponsored a majorsurvey of African- American art in 1966.35Schoener made Taylor a memberof the executive board of the Com- munityAdvisory Committee. Although the membersof Schoener'sHarlem committeestook their positions seriously, they were not allowed to have a say in theplanning of the exhibition.36 Frustratedby their lack of influence the research advisory committee and the HarlemCultural Council withdrew their support from the exhibition on November 22, 1968. The HarlemCultural Council stated that there was a "breakdownin communication"between the council and the museum. Taylor openly complained, "The Metcame to us withelaborate promises of community involvement in the show.But they haven't really begun to consultus. We'reexpected simply to be rubberstamps and window dressing."37 In an August28, 1968,letter to Romare Bearden,John Henrik Clarke reported the poor treatment he was receivingfrom theexhibition organizers,

Rightnow I don'tknow where the project, "Harlem on My Mind"is goingand I am notencouraged by someof the late developmentsrelative to it.The basis ofthe trouble with this projectis thatit never belonged to us andwhile alot of people listenedto our suggestions about the project. Very few of these suggestionswere ever put into effect.38

Upsetby theexhibition planning, Clarke said thatthe research-advisory committee'ssuggestions that Harlem on MyMind "be moreculturally oriented" had beenbypassed for a stresson "entertainment."He stated, "It could be a magnifi- centshow, but the emphasis is moreon showbiz techniquesthan on content. It's whatI call cutesie-pie-ism."39Hoving protested the withdrawal of Harlem support,saying, "Our staffof black and whitespecialists has workedclosely withvarious organizations in Harlem.This show has incomparablepotential.

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Too muchis at stakefor any particular group, no matterhow dedicated it is, not tobe involved."40Despite his immediate defensiveness, Schoener later admitted thathis approach to winningthe approval of Harlem through his administrative committeeswas superficialand that he neverintended to seriously consider what contributionsthey could make.41 Furthercontroversy around the exhibition stemmed from anti-Semitic re- markspublished in theexhibition catalog. Hoving sought to includecomment on thecultural content of Harlem on MyMind and thecurrent Black and Jew- ish tensionsin New Yorkby printinga highschool studentterm paper in the catalogwritten by CandiceVan Ellison,a Harlemresident and recentgraduate ofTheodore Roosevelt High School in theBronx, who had servedas an intern at theNew YorkCouncil on theArts through its "Ghetto Arts Corps" program. She cameto theattention of McGhee, who gave herhigh school term paper to Schoener.Inspired by her insight, Schoener asked Van Ellison to omitthe foot- notesand quotationsso thatthe essay would be less academicand be written in herown words.42 Schoener wanted the introduction to serveas commentary from"an ordinarycitizen, a truerepresentative ofthe people."43 In theessay, Van Ellisondiscussed the relationship between Black, Irish, Jewish,and PuertoRican communitiesin New York.She statesin one of her now infamouspassages:

It is truethat only a smallportion of Harlem'spopulation is Irish,yet a strongIrish influence is exertedon Harlemthrough the city'spolice force.As earlyas 1900, when the city's mainpoverty concentration was in theTenderloin, a bloody three-dayriot was sparkedwhen an Afro-Americannamed ArthurHarris knifed and killedan Irishpoliceman who was manhandlinghis girl. This incident was just the spark needed to setoff the already strained Irish-Afro- American relations. The numeroustales of police brutality in the riot ranged from policemenmerely looking the other way while mobs attacked Blacks,to the arresting of Negroes and beating them senseless insidethe precinct Anti-Jewish feeling is a naturalresult of theblack Northern migration. Afro- Americans in Northeastern industrialcities are constantlycoming in contactwith Jews. Pouringinto lower-income areas in the city, the Afro- American pushesout the Jew. Behind every hurdle that the Afro- Ameri- can has yetto jump stands the Jew who has alreadycleared it. Jewishshopkeepers are the only remaining "survivors" in the expandingBlack ghettoes.This is especiallytrue in Harlem, wherealmost all ofthe high-priced delicatessens or other small foodstores are runby Jews.. . . The lack of competitionin thisarea allows the already badly exploited Black to be further exploitedby Jews. One otherimportant factor worth noting is

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that,psychologically, Blacks may find anti- Jewish sentiments placethem for once, within a majority.Thus, our contempt for theJew makes us feelmore completely American in sharing a nationalprejudice.44

In theweek beforethe exhibition opened, word spread quickly about the contentof Van Ellison's essay, and therewas an immediateuproar. On January 17, 1969, Mayor Lindsay called the catalog racist and requested that it no longer be sold.45On January18, Dore Senary,the president of theAnti-Defamation League,said thecatalog was "somethingakin to theworst hatred ever spewed outby the Nazis."46 The JewishDefense League andthe American Jewish Con- gressfollowed in the condemnation of the book. Schoener defended the catalog anddenied that the introduction was racist.Though the essay embarrassed him, Hovingalso stoodby Van Ellison, saying, "It is herpersonal observation on life in herblock. It is notinflammatory. It is thetruth. If thetruth hurts, so be it."47 Respondingto publiccriticism, Hoving ordered that an insertbe placedin theintroduction ofall thecopies of the exhibition catalog disclaiming the racist contentof Van Ellison's essay. The disclaimerwas to be writtenby Van Ellison to denyany racist intent, but in a 1993 interview,Schoener disclosed that the disclaimerwas writtenthrough a series of telephone conversations between Van Ellisonand Bernard Botein, chairman of the Special Committee on Revivaland ReligiousPrejudice of New York.48Hoving maintains that Van Ellison wrote the insertwhich read,

In regardsto the controversyconcerning the sectionin my introductiondealing with intergroup relations, I would like to statethat the facts were organized according to thesocio- economicrealities of Harlemat thetime, and thatany racist overtoneswhich were inferred from the passages quoted out ofcontext are regrettable.49

Unconvincedthat she had done anythingwrong, Van Ellison's statementwas hardlyan apology.Random House insertedits own apologyfor Van Ellison's essayin copiesof the hard cover edition of the catalog. The New YorkCity Council threatened to withholdcity funds to theMet unlessit stopped selling the catalog. On February7, themuseum stopped catalog sales,but the catalog was stillavailable in retail bookstores.50 The same day, plans weremade to discussthe controversies over the catalog and theexclusion of theHarlem community in theplanning of the exhibition. Students at Columbia Universityannounced a roundtablediscussion about Harlem on MyMind with a groupof speakersthat included Jean Hutson from the Research-Advisory Committee;Henri Ghent, Harlem artist and Community Division Director of the BrooklynMuseum; photographer Roy DeCarava; Edwin Henry, Director of the

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TutorialProgram at the Academy for Black and Latin Education; and Richard E. Whittemore,chairman of the Social StudiesDepartment at TeachersCollege.51 VanEllison was theonly Harlem resident who was askedto contribute to the catalog.There was no otherperspective from a historian,art historian, sociologist,or other scholar from Harlem that might have made a relevantcontribution. The othertexts in thecatalog were the preface by Hovingand theforeword by Schoener.52The uproarover the catalog comments were discussed in themain- streammedia through letters to the editor of the New YorkTimes and WBAI New YorkCity radio programs.53 Certainly a morethoughtfully considered choice of catalogtexts, perhaps following the Portal to Americamodel, would have providedmore support for the goal of bridgingthe racial gap throughHarlem on MyMind. Harlemartists maintained that the inclusionof the artworkcould have providedmuseum visitors a richerand moreaccurate experience of Harlem.54 Insteadof statingthat he intentionallyexcluded artwork from the exhibition, Schoenerconsidered his ownvision of Harlemas a workof art.He explained, "Forme, people create art; therefore, itwas legitimateto createan exhibitionin an artmuseum which dealt with people."55 Affirming his earlierstatement that theinclusion of artworkwould have detractedfrom the experience he wanted to create,Shoener takes his place as theauthor who speaks the exhibition's title. It is Harlemon Schoener'smind that was displayedin thegalleries. Though culturalcontext is an importantelement in representingart in an artmuseum, in thisequation the art is excludedand theexhibition of people becomesthe workof art.The ethnographicturn toward African American culture in theart museumcomes into focus through this exhibition. Similarly, in theexhibition pressrelease Hoving called the neighborhood of Harlem a workof art by making an analogybetween Harlem on MyMind and other exhibitions that the museum wouldmount.

Thereis no difference between this show and one of Rembrandt or Degas. Throughtheir works, these artistsreveal their individualworlds to us. The Harlemcommunity becomes the artistin thiscase, thecanvas the total environment in which Harlem'shistory was formed.56

As ifthey were unable to representthemselves, Harlem residents were in- terpretedthrough the Met andpackaged as a culturalobject. By consideringall peopleof Harlem as artists,and the geographic space ofHarlem as an artwork, theexhibition prohibited any sense of diversitywithin the Harlem community. In thisway, the questionof artisticproduction from Harlem was precluded, overdeterminedby theMet as place. In hisbook The Predicament of Culture, James Clifford addresses the divide betweenart and culturein theAmerican art museum. Clifford discusses the art-culturerelationship as a systemin which art is definedas originaland singular;

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 22 BridgetR. Cooks cultureis definedas traditionaland collective.Schoener perceived Harlem as a culturalcollective. This definition conflicted with the possibility of an artworld as definedby Eurocentricstandards. To recognizeart made by Black people wouldhave interfered with Schoener 's collectiveview by acknowledging living peoplesand individual artists with original visions and expressions.57 In short, the Harlemindividual as artistwould have disturbed the symbolic value of Blackness neededto reinscribe the Met's Whiteness. This investment in Whiteness defined themuseum's identity as privileged,racially pure, and therefore entitled to define whatart could and couldnot be alongaesthetic and culturallines. Eliminating artfrom the Harlem community confirmed a hierarchy of cultural production in theart world. By omittingthe art of Black Americans the Met defined their production as non-art.Racial difference was constructedinthe galleries as ethnographyand the peopleof Harlem as a collectivecultural specimen. The chosenrepresentations ofHarlem presented the community as culturalcapital, an objectifiedplace but nota livingculture in itself. In 1968,two well-established and respected Black artists,Romare Bearden andNorman Lewis metwith Schoener to expresstheir dissatisfaction with the multimediaformat of the exhibition,particularly with the conceptof using photographsas theprimary means of representation.Bearden and Lewis were foundingmembers of the artist group Spiral, formed in 1963 to discussthe po- tentialof Black artists to engage with issues of racial equality and struggle in the 1960sthrough their work.58 The exclusionof art from Harlem on MyMindwãs a concernfor members of Spiral as an issueof racial inequality and lack of self- representationinthe art world. Bearden and Lewis argued that if the Met wanted to openits doors to Harlem,Black artistsshould be included.59Dismissing their position,Schoener replied that he was creatinga documentaryexhibition without originalworks of art.60That same year, Bearden wrote a letterto Schoenerthat definitivelystated his position on thestate of the exhibition planning, "As I have toldyou there are severalthings that the community is just notgoing to accept, andrather than completely antagonize people, it might actually be bestto phase theshow out, or else startimmediately to workin theinterests of thekind of showthe community as a wholewould want."61 To no avail,the artists, Schoener, and his staffmet several times to finda commonground for Black representa- tionin Harlemon My Mind At theend of November1969, Bearden, Hutson andHarlem-based artist Benny Andrews, organized a demonstrationagainst the exhibition.Unfazed by their protests, Schoener continued his project of cultural definitionthrough display. Equally determined,the Harlem artist community continuedtheir struggle for representation at the Met. After months of discus- sionswith the museum's administrators, Andrews formed the Black Emergency CulturalCoalition (BECC) inhis studioon January9, 1969,specifically for the purposeof protestingHarlem on MyMind.62 Andrews described in hisjournal thefirst BECC demonstrationagainst the exhibition on January12, 1969.

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Figure6: "1950-1959:Frustration and Ambivalence," Exhibition Gallery Mu- seumViews, Interior. Special Exhibitions: Harlem on MyMind: Cultural Capi- talof Black America, 1900-1968. Gallery Installation: Photographed March 25, 1969; The MetropolitanMuseum of Art. Image © The MetropolitanMuseum ofArt.

At 1:00 p.m.we startedour demonstration atthe Metropolitan againstthe "Harlemon My Mind" show.The police were waitingfor us withbarricades and verystern looks. A line of the Museum'sstaff were rightinside the Museumwith theirnoses pressedagainst the glass doors peeringout at us. We formeda long oval line and startedto walk slowly aroundand aroundthe police barricadeswith our placards denouncingthe exhibition. The passing pedestrians and street trafficpractically came to a haltwhen they spotted this small slow line of Black people in frontof thismassive, angry, forbidding,endless façade of the MetropolitanMuseum of Art.63

Someof the interracial group had attended the meeting at Andrews's studio, somejoined afterhearing about the meeting, and othersjoined spontaneously offthe street.64 Members of the BECC woresandwich boards and carried picket signsthat read, "Tricky Tom at it Again?" "That's White of Hoving!" "Harlem on whosemind?" "Whose image of whom?" "On theAuction Block Again - Sold

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Figure7: "1960-1968: Militancyand Identity,"Exhibition Gallery in Harlem on MyMind: Cultural Capital of Black America, 1900-1968. Lloyd Yearwood, photographer.All rightsreserved, Lloyd yearwood. Yearwood photographs on display(c. 1959-1960). Clockwisefrom left to right:Malcolm X in Harlem, MuslimWomen /, Muslim Women II, and MuslimBrothers.

Outby Massa Hoving,"and "Visit the Metropolitan Museum of Photography."65 The BECC distributedleaflets in frontof the museum, some with the headings, "Soul's Been Sold Again!! !" and "Harlemon WhoseMind?" The BECC's questionsdisplayed in protest demanded answers. The BECC agreedwith Schoener, that it was his visionof Harlemthat was on view in the Met's galleries.However, as one ofthe museum's directors and spokespersons forthe exhibition, Hoving was thetarget of criticismas well. The exhibition displayedHarlem on the museum directors' minds not on the mind of the Harlem artcommunity. The BECC wantedto articulatethe significant difference they saw betweenthe museum's representations of Harlemand theirown rejected effortsto includetheir perspectives through self-representation. Theproblems that aroused the protest of the Harlem art community were both politicaland aesthetic.The BECC called Hovingout as "White"and "Massa" emphasizingthe contemporary unequal power relationships between Blacks and Whitesthat echo those of slavery. Similarly, the reference to selling soul hearkens backto theauction block in which White planters bought Black laborfor White economicgain. The referencesare clearand direct:the BECC criticizedtheir

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Black Artistsand Activism25 treatmentby themuseum as a continuationof a racistpatriarchal hegemonic systemof Black control.The organization'sprotest material addressed its issue ofthe aesthetic conflict within the exhibition by highlighting the difference betweenphotography and art.The BECC condemnedthe museum for working outsideof therealm of its own self-definedformal boundaries by referringto theMet as a museumof photographyrather than a museumof art.Again, this separationof photography from art was inkeeping with a formalsplit of the era thatdid not consider photography as art. The flyersalso includeda critique:

One would certainlyimagine that an artmuseum would be interestedin the worldof Harlem'spainters and sculptors. Instead,we are offeredan audio-visualdisplay comparable to thoseinstalled in hotellobbies during conventions. If art representsthe very soul ofa people,then this rejection of the Black painterand sculptoris themost insidious segregation ofall.66

The BECC chargedthe Met withpresenting a "moresqualid, seamy side of lifein Harlem"and accusedthe museum of givingup artfor social science. The BECC demandeda changein thestructure of themuseum. They wanted Black peopleto be a partof thedaily business of theMet as staffmembers in hopesthat integration within the museum would solve the problem of exclusion of Black artistsfrom the museum.67 The coalitionpresented a listof demands includingthe "appointment of Black people on a curatoriallevel and in all other policy-makingareas of the museum." They also challengedthe museum to "seek a moreviable relationship with the Total Black Community."The leafletscalled fora boycottof the exhibition and extended an openinvitation for anyone to join thedemonstration.68 On January18, Hoving announced that the museum was developingplans foran exhibitionof contemporaryBlack artin February.He expecteda second exhibitionof contemporaryBlack paintingand artwould followshortly after thefirst.69 This statement was powerfulenough to stopthe BECC fromdemon- strating.Schoener began plans for an exhibitionof works by Black artistssoon aftermeeting with Bearden and Lewis in 1968. The initialplan was forit to serveas a supplementto Harlem on MyMind and run concurrently with it. The Met selectedJames Sneed, director of theHarlem Art Gallery, to organizethe exhibition,but planning ended because the Harlem artists and the Met could not agreeon Sneed'sexhibition proposal. Schoener explained, "The show never took place. Thisfailure demonstrated the Metropolitan's lack ofcommitment to that request.The exhibition'scancellation left in itswake a senseof distruston the partof the artists in Harlemwho shouldhave been our logical allies."70 Expec- tationsof collaborationwere at theheart of theHarlem artists' protest. Painter RichardMayhew, a memberof Spiraland one ofthe artists who had protested

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Harlemon MyMind, continues today to expresshis dissatisfaction with the way theexhibition organizers handled the artists,

The BECC was moreactive than Spiral in termsof actually picketingand challengingthe museumat the time.Spiral, Beardenand CharlesAlston, wanted to do it morein a letter form,and in some other ways, making contact with the museum directlyand havingmeetings with them. Many of themeet- ingsnever happened. The picketingcame aboutas moreof a radicalgroup. Benny Andrews and myselfand otherpeople, arthistorians were involved in that group. So we picketedand we challengedto have meetingswith them and theyrefused to have that.The people at the museumnever encouraged meetingsor encouragedus to do this.It was alwaysa sense ofdenial and omission.No directcontact.71

Despiteprotests against the Met, thousands of peoplewent to see Harlem on My Mind.Ten thousandvisited the exhibition on openingday, double the numberof visitorson pastopening days. An estimated1,500 of thosevisitors wereBlack, six to seventimes the average daily number of Black visitors to the museum,attesting to the desire for Blacks to see themselvesin American institu- tionsand to support institutions that recognize them even if Harlem on MyMind dealtsuperficially with Harlem and BlackAmerica.72 For example,the gallery space dedicatedto 1950-1959displayed representations of Malcolm X on one side and MartinLuther King Jr.on theother in a dichotomousrelationship.73 HistorianEugene D. Genovesepointedly addressed this issue in his exhibition review,

The exhibitimmediately involved political decisions: Should you emphasizethe early or thelate Malcolm?Malcolm the uncompromisingBlack Nationalistor Malcolm the man who ended his life edging towarda new position?The exhibitsettles these questions in a mannerthat will notbe to everyone'staste, but the real problem lies elsewhere:Who is makingthe decision to interpretMalcolm?74

Justfour years after his death,the questionof how to representMalcolm X as a partof Harlemneeded careful consideration, especially by Schoenerand Hoving,who had no previousexperience with those kinds of culturalpolitics in museums.75 Mostof theselected photographs of MalcolmX and Black Muslimswere takenby Harlemphotographer Lloyd Yearwood, who has madehis nameas a photographerof Black spiritualcommunities with a specificfocus on theactivi- tiesof Black Muslims.76 In 1968Yearwood responded to a newspaperad placed

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Black Artistsand Activism27 bythe Met thatcalled for work by Harlemphotographers.77 He recalls his visit to themuseum to showhis photographs,

Theyhad theshow laid outon boards.There was nothingon the1960s. Nothing on MalcolmX. Theyrearranged the whole boardto makeroom for my photographs. I brought 277 prints and forty-sixcontact sheets. The Met keptfifty-seven prints and all contactsheets.78

The Met selectedseveral of Yearwood'sphotographs of Black Muslim activitiesincluding images of MalcolmX forthe 1950s and 1960s sectionsof theexhibition (figures 6-7). The contrastbetween King and MalcolmX in the gallerieswas notinherent in Yearwood's photographs but contrived by Schoener. RepresentingMalcolm X andKing as binaryideologies was an easyway for the museumto avoidexamining the complexities of the lives of both men and their contributionstopolitics, philosophy, and strategies for survival on an international andlocal level.A closerlook at Yearwood's photographs should have suggested representingthe Civil Rights Movement in Harlem beyond the misperception of an oppositionalrelationship between the two leaders. It is probablethat Schoener and his staffchose documentaryphotographs as theprimary medium because they believed that it would make the exhibition appearto be objective.In the 1960s,the status of photographyas artwas ac- ceptablein someart circles, but not in an establishedreceptacle of great"mas- terpieces"of European painting, sculpture, and decorative arts. Ironically, some ofthe Black photographers whose work was includedin the exhibition are now consideredexceptional artists. Most notable are two giants in American photography,Gordon Parks and James VanDerZee. Although in 1969their images were notconsidered art by the standards of the Metropolitan or the Black artistswho protestedthe exhibition, they were highly esteemed by their peers as outstanding photographers.79Inthe cultural moment, the use ofphotographs inthe exhibition, andthe combination of photography and newspaper articles in the catalog were thoughtto supportthe museum's position as an apoliticalinstitution. Regardless ofits rejection of photography as art,the Met was implicatedin the "objective" perspectivesit chose forthe exhibition. Yearwood is proudof his inclusionin Harlemon MyMind and regardsthe experience of seeinghis workand name on thewalls of the Met galleriesas a highlightof his professional career. Similarly,for James VanDerZee Harlem on MyMind was thepivotal event ofhis career.While looking for photographs of Harlem life in December1967, McGhee happenedupon VanDerZee 's photographystudio window. When he entered,he foundthe wealth of photographs that VanDerZee had createdsince the1910s. In an interview,VanDerZee revealed that had he knownthat Harlem on My Mindwas not"just another advertising stint," he wouldhave given"a muchbetter selection" of photographsto the exhibition.80The exposurethat VanDerZeereceived from the exhibition led to a numberof awards,honorary

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 28 BridgetR. Cooks doctorates,one-man exhibitions, and publications. As a resultof his "discovery" ofVanDerZee's work and the subsequent display of his work in Harlem on My Mind,McGhee co-founded the James VanDerZee Institute in 1969 and in 1970 theMetropolitan acquired 66 of VanDerZee'sphotographs as a giftfrom the Institute.81The Institutewas housedin theMet fora brieftime before merging withthe Studio Museum of Harlem in 1978. The opportunityto see Black faceson thegallery walls of the Metropolitan madean incredibleimpression on manyBlack visitors.A younggeneration of Black visitors,initially unaware of the controversy surrounding the exhibition, was greatlyinfluenced by theHarlem on MyMind experience. Deborah Willis whowent on to become the nation's premiere photo-historian ofAfrican American imagesin the United States, was one ofthese young visitors who has mentioned theexhibition as an influentialmoment in herlife.82 UnlikeYearwood and VanDerZee,photographer Roy DeCarava,who was includedin The Family of Man exhibition and had published his own photographs aboutHarlem with Langston Hughes in The SweetFlypaper of Life (1955), refusedthe Metropolitan's invitation to be includedin Harlemon My Mind. DeCaravaopposed the presumption of Schoener and Hoving to stakea claimto Harlem.DeCarava declinedparticipation in theexhibition, explaining,

It is evidentfrom the physicalmakeup of the show that Schoenerand companyhave no respectfor or understanding ofphotography, or, for that matter, any of the other media that theyemployed. I wouldsay also thatthey have no greatlove orunderstanding for Harlem, black people, or history.83

In The Familyof Man, DeCarava was exhibitedas equal to established photographerssuch as AnselAdams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and RobertFrank. He was also treatedwith respect at MoMA, havingbeen eagerly befriended by Steichenin 1947and quickly added to MoMA's permanentcollection in 1950.84 In TheFamily of Man, the work of Black artistssuch as DeCarava and Gordon Parkscomprised part of an internationalcollection of images that sought, though problematically,tofind the commonality between peoples, the artists conscripted toa nationalisticproject as representativesofAmerica.85 DeCarava found this role morerespectful than allowing his work to be usedas illustrationsfor Schoener 's visionof Harlem.Schoener 's dismissivemanner of workingwith the Harlem communityfurther influenced DeCarava to declineparticipation in theexhibition. The presentationof imagesby photographerswho weremostly outsiders to theHarlem community raised old issuesof scholarlyrepresentation through patronizinganthropological study. This was substantiatedby Hoving'spreface to theexhibition catalog which established the idea of Harlemas a dangerous place whereWhites would go seekingadventure.

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My motherwent to Harlemfrom time to time.To theclubs, carryingthe delightful sense of slumming and far-off danger, a titillationof the perilouspossibility that never came to pass. . . . Negroes,as humanbeings, did not exist in anyreal sensewhen I was eight,nine, ten, eleven. And theydidn't reallyexist as faras myparents were concerned.86

AlthoughHoving wrote about the differencesbetween Black and White people in thepast tense, Hoving 's prefaceclearly enunciated an attitudeabout Harlemand Black Americansthat still existed. His mother'sslumming served as Hoving's introductionto Harlemand certainlyinfluenced his understanding ofthe community. The Met's approach to Harlem's cultural offerings, like thrill- seekersslumming during the Harlem Renaissance allowed White people to keep a privilegeddistance as outsiderslooking in. In hispreface to the catalog, Hoving elaborates on hispersonal relationship to Harlemby writing about what Harlem meant to himas a child.

Timeschange, bodies change, minds change. When I grewup inNew Yorkand when I was a boyof eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve,there was a Harlem.And Harlem was withme and my family- a wonderfulmaid of sunny disposition and a thin,sour chauffeurwho droveme to schoolin moodysilence. To me and myfamily, living on 84thand ParkAvenue, Harlemwas a light-yearaway, uptown. And thatwas good. Forbehind the vague misty thoughts concerning other people thatcame throughmembers of myfamily down to me,Ne- groes- coloredpeople - constitutedan unspokenmenace, the tribethat must not be allowedto comedown the Avenue.87

Laterin thepreface, Hoving refers to themaid again as he wonderedwhy his chaufferwas "sour."Hoving asked, "Why can't he be like Bessie themaid?" To makematters worse, it turns out that Hoving created Bessie forthe preface. He statesin hismemoir that he thoughtabout omitting the fiction but Schoener encouragedhim to leave the essay the way it was, "saying that he likedthe confes- sionaltone and especially the part about the maid and the family chauffeur."88 The fictionalBessie served to complete the picture of Hoving 's privilegedupbringing byhaving a mammyat his service. His racial-and class-based fantasy expressed Hoving's idealrelationship to Harlem which might have influenced his decision notto participatein meaningfulcommunication with real Black Harlemites.89 Still,in theface of an enormouschallenge, Harlem's visual arts commu- nityrefused to be ignored.Members of Spiral,the BECC, theHarlem Cultural Council,and the artists' group Weusi, contested the omission of Black artistsin differentand sometimes overlapping ways.90 Although protesting en masse,the BECC, Spiral,and Weusi picketed the exhibition as separategroups representing

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 30 BridgetR. Cooks multi-generationalattacks from different factions of the Harlem art community.91 The HarlemCultural Council protested by withdrawingtheir support of the exhibition.Members from all threeartists' groups worked with the Research Committeeof African American Art to plana supplementaryexhibit to Harlem on My Mindat theMet whichwas notrealized.92 As an establishedartist and co-founderof Spiral,Bearden sought to talkwith Hoving and offeredmembers of Spiralas consultantsfor Harlem on MyMind.93 Members of Spiraland the BECC protestedby developing strategic plans for formal meetings with museum administrators,along with public demonstrations to insurethat they would be heardand seen.Benny Andrews recalls an incidentat thepreview reception for theexhibition during which he soughtto discusswith Hoving "how this whole idea of an exhibitionpertaining to theblack mean [sic] seemsto have already gottenoff on thewrong foot."94 He was toldby a staffmember that he would be contactedto set up an opportunityto speak,but he neverwas. Afterthe demonstrationsagainst Harlem on My Mind,the BECC formedan executive boardof artists and a three-personcommittee headed by Benny Andrews, Henri Ghent,and JohnSadler. Their goals includedserving as "a watchdoggroup of theblack community in thegraphic arts" and continuingto "carryon thefight againstracism in thecultural area ofAmerican society."95 Already established as an activistgroup in response to the Metropolitan, the BECC turnedto another mainstreaminstitution, the Whitney Museum of American Art, to addressthe exclusionof Black artists in their exhibitions. This attack on multiplefronts made theBECC highlyvisible and brought attention to theexclusion of Black artists frommainstream museums and the determination for Black representation inits place. On April24, 1969,the coalition met with Whitney director John I. H. Baur andother administrators ofthe Whitney to discussits professed commitment to representingartists of all races,prompted by the Whitney exhibition The 1930 s: Paintingand Sculpturein America (October 15-December 1, 1968)just before theopening of Harlem on MyMind. The exclusion of Black artists at the Whitney inspiredas a responsethe exhibition at theStudio Museum in Harlem, Invisible Americans:Black Artistsof the30 s, curatedby HenriGhent, and theBECC followedup withthe Whitney about their exclusionary exhibition practices. In an articleabout the BECC meetingwith the Whitney administration, Andrews reportedthat the Whitney staff agreed to thefollowing five demands given by theBECC:

1. Stagea majorexhibition of BlackArt Works. 2. Establisha fundto buymore works by black artists. 3. Showat least five annual one-man exhibitions, inthe small galleryoff the lobby, of black artists. 4. Have moreblack artists represented in the "Whitney An- nual." 5. Consultwith black art experts.96

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Thoughnot satisfied with the progress toward inclusion at the Whitney at the timethe article was published,Andrews was quitepleased with the performance ofthe coalition at themeeting,

The B.E.C.C. set out in the talks with the Whitney Museumto show thatwe could sit down with"them" and deal in measuredtones with the inequities accorded theblack man in thissociety - and dammitwe did We leftno promises,and made no requests,but we know we'll be backto theWhitney Museum of Art someday - as paintersand sculptors,we hope; not as stand-in curatorsand vocal spokesmenfor the black man.97

Proudof the coalition's accomplishments atthe meeting, Andrews in claim- ingvictory for Black men,ignored the exclusion of Black womenfrom Black representationinthe mainstream art museum. The sexism of Andrews 's statement was typicalof theBlack ArtsMovement, which was oftensplit along gender lines.98After meeting with staffai the Whitney, the BECC metwith representatives fromMoMA to discussthe exclusion of Black artistsin a memorialexhibition forDr. MartinLuther King Jr., and they approached the Met again.For the rest of 1969, the coalition met with the Whitney staff to try to negotiate an agreement totheir demands, but the two groups did not reach a compromise.In April 1971, Whitneycurator Robert Doty organized the exhibition Contemporary Black Art inAmerica (April 6-May 16, 1971),which included 58 Black menand women artists.Ten works from the exhibition were bought during and shortlyafter the exhibition.Because their demands were not met, however, the BECC ledprotests againstthe Whitney during the exhibition.99 Owing in partto the effortsof the BECC, the BostonMuseum of Fine Artsopened the exhibition Afro-American Artists: New Yorkand Boston(May 19-June23, 1970).Edmund B. Gaither,curator of the exhibition and director of theElmer Lewis Art School, also attributedthe exhibition to the phenomenon of Harlemon MyMind.m Gaither aligned Afro-American Artists with a groupof exhibitionsfocused on Black artiststhat he called examplesof the"new black show."According to Gaither, the new black show differed from previous exhibitionsof work by Black artistsbecause it servedas "a valuableeducational and culturalexperience for both black and whiteviewers and artists."New black showswere exhibited in major museums and universities instead of community meetingplaces such as churches,YWCAs, and schools.New blackshows were a resultof the pressures from Black artsorganizations on mainstreamart institu- tionsto exhibitwork by Black artists.Gaither stated that because Black artists, curators,and scholars worked together, they were able to produce exhibitions that presentedremarkable expressions of Black culture.The emergenceof the "new blackshow" helped establish the significance of what Black artistsand curators weretrying to do. ThroughGaither's exhibition, he provedthe significance of

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Black creativityoutside the geographic borders of New York.Afro-American Artists:New Yorkand Bostonresponded to Harlemon My Mindnot only to confirmthat the Met had ignoredthe relevance of thevisual arts in theirown city,but also to demonstratethat the relevance of Harlem artists was just a part ofa largernation of visual artists on thescene. Gaitherdefined the function of the new black show for the 1970s:

It beginsto meetthe need forreal involvementbetween the blackcommunity and theprofessional art world. It beginsto attackthe ignorancewhich still clouds theculture of black people. It provokespeople, black and white,to look,and it precipitatesbenefits for the artists.101

Whatmade the "new black show" new was itsbreak from the past struggles andmisrepresentation with White mainstream museums. The conceptualization of whatBlack shows could be was basedon thekind of mistakes made with Harlem on MyMind and theresponse to culturalmisrepresentation by the BECC, the firstorganization of its kind. The coalition's protest, criticism, and determination to infiltratemainstream art museums contributed powerfully to theBlack Arts Movement,making it effectivefrom multiple positions. Instead of positinga specificBlack aesthetic,the BECC pushedfor the acknowledgement of Black artists,their visibility within White mainstream museums, and the accessibility of artworkby Black artistswithin Black communities.They contributed along withBlack writers,poets, and visualartists of theBlack ArtsMovement who articulatedtheir connection with Africa and theirunique vision in theUnited States.Black curatorsand artistsforged a space forart by Black artiststo be seen.The influenceof their actions went beyond the context of the Met and the exampleoí Harlemon MyMind, providing a model for institutional critique and activismin theAmerican art world. Inhis discussion of the exhibition, Steven C. Dubinultimately gives credit to theMet for making a greatcontribution toAmerican museums through Harlem on MyMind when he writes,

Even minusthe direct experience of the"electronic museum theatre,"it is difficultto denythe importance of the achieve- mentof Harlem on MyMind. In thefinal analysis, for all the exhibition'sflaws or naïve miscalculations,the catalogue's dedication,"To thepeople of Harlem- past,present and fu- ture- as a recordof their achievements," is a sincerereflection ofwhat's contained inside.102

I agreewith Dubin that the exhibition was important.However, in my final analysis,the credit for the significanceof Harlemon My Mind is due to the communityactivism toward African American self-representation, visibility,

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Black Artistsand Activism33 andrecognition in the mainstream art world. Instead of applauding Hoving and Schoenerfor discriminatory treatment of BlackAmericans through their exhibit, praiseshould be givento theartists and protestors in Spiral,the BECC, Weusi, andthe Harlem Cultural Council for creating an uproarand putting pressure on museumadministrations tobe moreresponsible in representing communities of racialand ethnic others. Although there were informative displays about Harlem in theexhibition, the greater record of African American achievement was not foundwithin the catalog or theexhibition; rather, it was strugglingoutside the doorsof the Met. These excluded communities deserve the recognition for speak- ingout and forminga discourse critiquing the exhibition and their ill treatment bythe museum administration. LoweryStokes Sims, who workedas a curatorof Twentieth-CenturyArt at theMetropolitan (1972-1999) clarifiesthe impact of theprotest against the exhibition:

As a resultof the demonstrations against Harlem on MyMind, theMMA (MetropolitanMuseum of Art) instituted the Com- munityPrograms Department under the directorship of Susan Coppello(later Badden), who hired me in 1972. After she left, CathyChance took over and becameperhaps the first black administratorin the MMA's history.I eventuallyhad access to thefiles on Harlemon My Mind and could see thatthe miscommunicationabout the content of the exhibition existed fromthe beginning.103

In a 1997 interviewwith Dubin, Thelma Golden, then curator at the Whitney Museumof American Art, stated,

The reasonI havemy job is becauseof Harlem on MyMind. LowerySims often says she got her job atthe Met specifically in 1973because of the controversy. Had theprotests not happened,I'm notsure the Whitney or otherinstitutions in this citywould have changed. It galvanizedmost museums to get tothe place where in 19901 could work here and do thethings I do. But ittook twenty years.104

The advancementof African American curators like Golden and Sims are tracedback to theprotests against Harlem on My Mind,not to theexhibition as a self-containedproject nor its curators who ignoredthe artwork by Harlem artists.Although Dubin statesthat Harlem on My Mind "forcedmuseums to representminority communities," itwas theorganized artists' resistance to the Met'srepresentations that forced change.105 Schoener, Hoving, and other museum administratorsdo not deserve credit for creating the problem that forced Harlem to respond.By privilegingthe view ofthe museum, Dubin underplays the con-

This content downloaded from 130.86.12.250 on Sun, 16 Feb 2014 11:50:09 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 34 Bridget R. Cooks tributionsof African- American artists and disregardstheir contributions just as theywere ignored in 1968. Withoutthe critical engagement from the African Americancommunities, the exhibition would not have achieved the attention it received. In thelate 1960s a flurryof museumsand galleriesdedicated to African Americanculture were founded. In New Yorkalone fourinstitutions dedicated to exhibitingart by Black artistsopened: the Studio Museum in Harlem (1967), Cinque Gallery(1969), Acts of Art(1969), and ACA Gallery(1969).106 On a nationalmap severalmuseums were foundedfrom the mid-1960s to the late 1970sfor African American art and culturalhistory, including the International Afro-American Museum, Detroit (1965), Anacostia Museum of Culture and His- tory,Washington, DC (1967),Museum of the National Center for Afro- American Art,Boston (1968), Museumof AfricanAmerican Art, Los Angeles(1976), Afro-American Historical and CulturalMuseum, Philadelphia (1976), Califor- nia AfricanAmerican Museum of Cultureand History,Los Angeles(1979).107 The responseto Harlem on MyMind by the Black visualarts community was a fundamentalelement in a movementtoward the autonomy of Black artists. Harlemon My Mindforced the Black visual artscommunity to organize againstunfair representations ofBlack culture, the exclusion of Black artists from exhibitions,and discrimination inthe hiring of Black museum professionals. As historianDeborah Willis explains, the organizers of Harlem on MyMind incited manyin the Harlem community "to protest that a museumostensibly dedicated to artsuddenly adopted a documentarystance when confronted with the visual presenceof the other within its walls."108 Although gains were made because of theactivism that followed Harlem on MyMind, the struggle for Black represen- tationin artmuseums continues against new challenges. SinceHarlem on MyMind, over 200 AfricanAmerican museums have been foundedaround the country. The increaseof Blacks as museumprofessionals and thenumber of raciallyspecific museums illustrates different strategies for achievingBlack visibilityin Americanart. There is an exchangeof ideas and artistsin both the mainstream art institution and the African American museum, butthe African American museum exists specifically to collect,exhibit, and educatevisitors about art made by Black artists. The African American museum hascome about because the need for cultural expression and understanding could notwait for or depend upon mainstream art institutions toopen their gates.109 The strugglefor Black representation inmainstream art institutions reflects the larger nationalneed forcultural recognition, understanding, and respect.The diverse Blackvisual arts community struggles within itself and mainstream art museums notonly to answerthe recurring questions "What is Black art?"and "Who are Blackartists?" but "How canwe insurethat Black artists are recognized as equal contributorsto the American scene?"

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Notes I wouldlike to thankJoseph Cumbo, Linda Garber,Richard Mayhew, and LloydYear- wood,for their assistance with this article.

1. ThomasHoving, "Preface," in Harlemon MyMind: CulturalCapital of Black America, 1900-1968,ed. AllonSchoener (New York:Random House, 1968),unpaginated. 2. Thetitle of the exhibition was takenfrom the song of the same title written by Irving Berlin in 1933,performed in themusical As ThousandsCheer (1933). This Broadwayproduction was the firstto featurean African-American woman; Ethel Waters was givenstar billing in theproduction. Waterssang "Harlem on My Mind,"which told the story of a womanwho leftHarlem for stardom butmissed her home. Borrowing this musical reference as thetitle of theexhibition invokes the importanceof Harlem as a hometo BlackAmericans and suggests the separate worlds of Black and WhiteAmerica. 3. DeborahWillis-Braithwaite points out thatthe root of theproblem and the subsequent protestsdeveloped because the Metropolitan, "a museum ostensibly dedicated to art suddenly adopted a documentarystance when confronted with the visual presenceof the 'other'within its walls." DeborahWillis-Braithwaite, "They Knew Their Names," in VanDerZee:Photographer, 1886-1983 (NewYork: Harry N. Abrams,in association with the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institu- tion,1993), 8. 4. StevenC. Dubin,"Crossing 125th Street: Harlem on MyMind Revisited," in Displays of Power:Memory and Amnesia in theAmerican Museum (New York:NYU Press,1999). 5. The inclusionof African Americans in majormuseum exhibitions was nota new or in- novativeconcept. Other major art institutions had successfullyorganized several exhibitions of artworksby African- American artists before Harlem on MyMind. For example in 1937 theMuseum ofModern Art organized a solo exhibitionof artwork by William Edmondson, the institution's first solo exhibitionof an African- American artist. The PhillipsMemorial Gallery and the Catholic Inter- Racial Councilexhibited Three Negro Artists: Horace Pippin,Jacob Lawrence, Richmond Barthé in 1946; in 1960 Lawrencehad a travelingsolo retrospectiveorganized by the Brooklyn Museum; and in 1968The MinneapolisInstitute of Art held an exhibitionThirty Contemporary Black Artists thattraveled to severalmuseums nationwide. However, the difference between these examples and Harlemon MyMind was thatthe Met was an artmuseum representing African Americans without theirartworks. 6. JaneAnna Gordon, Why They Couldn 't Wait: A Critiqueof the Black-Jewish Conflict over CommunityControl in Ocean Hill-Brownsville,1967-1971 (New York:Routledge, 2001), 63. l.Ibid, 130 n. 46. 8. Ibid, 24. 9. See HarmonFoundation, "Exhibition of the Work of Negro Artists Presented by the Har- monFoundation at theArt Center 1931," Exhibition brochure, February 16-28, 1931and Tuliza K. Fleming,"Breaking Racial Barriers," in Breaking Racial Barriers:African Americans in the Harmon FoundationCollection, Exhibition catalog, National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution (San Francisco:Pomegranate Books, n.d.), 8. 10. See WilliamJ. Sloan, "The DocumentaryFilm and the Negro,"in The Documentary Tradition,2nd ed., ed. Lewis Jacobs(New York:Norton, 1979), 425. 11. In 1970 TomWolfe published an essay/exposéon theRadical Chic phenomenonamong theupper classes. In hisessay, "Radical Chic" he describesa partythat composer Leonard Bernstein threwat his apartment for his elite friends and members of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense. The eventgave Bernsteinand his wealthycohort the opportunity to temporarilyidentify with the Panthersthrough meeting with the racial, economic, and political other and writing them checks in supportof their activities. See TomWolfe, Radical Chicand Mau-Mauingthe Flak Catchers(New York:Farrar, Straus, and Giroux,1970). 12. See, "The Panthersand the Law," Newsweek, February 23, 1970,30. 13. JozefaStuart, "How Hip Should a MuseumGet?" Life Magazine,February 21, 1969, 14. 14. Hoving,"Preface," Harlem on MyMind (1968), unpaginated. 15. CathyAldridge, "Exhibit on Everybody'sMind," New YorkAmsterdam News, February 1, 1969,38. In his 1994"Introduction to theNew Edition,"Schoener states that the exhibition filled fifteengalleries covering 18,000 square feet of themuseum's second floor. See Schoener,Harlem on MyMind (1995), unpaginated. 16. "SundayMorning with Mandrake: Harlem on the New York Mind," The Sunday Telegraph, January12, 1969 [MetropolitanMuseum of Art Library, Harlem on MyMind clipping book. Page numberomitted]. Schoener states that there were 700 photographsand 500 projectedimages. See Schoener,Harlem on MyMind (1995), unpaginated. 17. Schoener,Harlem on MyMind ( 1995), unpaginated. 18. Ibid.

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19. Althoughthe 1995 editionof the catalogincludes three dark photographs from Allon Schoener'scollection of the 1900-1919, 1920-1929,and 1960-1968sections it is notenough to geta senseof what it was liketo visitthe exhibition. 20. JohnCanaday, "Getting Harlem Off My Mind,"New YorkTimes, January 12, 1969, D25. 2 1. CathyAldridge, "Harlem On MyMind: A Boxed-InFeeling," New YorkAmsterdam News, February1, 1969,38. 22. Canaday,"Getting Harlem Off My Mind,"D25. 23. GraceGlueck, "Art: 'Harlem on My Mind'in Slides,Tapes and Photos," New YorkTimes, January17, 1969,28. 24. CathyAldridge, "Exhibit on Everybody'sMind," New YorkAmsterdam News, February 1, 1969,38. 25. Allon Schoener,"Preface," in Portalto America: The Lower East Side, 1870-1925,ed. AllonSchoener (New York:Holt, Rinehart, and Winston,1967), 9. 26. The Harlemon MyMind catalog also has a seconddesigner, Ernie Smith. 27. The MetropolitanMuseum of Art, "Harlem's Rich, Varied Sixty- Year History as Cultural Capitalof Black America to be Presentedin Major Exhibition by Harlem Community at Metropolitan Museum,"Press Release, Thursday AM, November16, 1967,3; CathyAldridge, "Year-Long Show ofHarlem History," New YorkAmsterdam News, November 1 8, 1967,1 ; SandyShenker, "Museum Aided By AR in UniqueMulti-Media Show," Audio Times,February 15, 1969,4; GraceGlueck, "Art:Harlem on MyMind in Slides,Tapes and Photos." 28. GraceGlueck, "Art: Harlem on MyMind in Slides,Tapes and Photos." 29. AllonSchoener, The Lower East Side: Portalto American Life, 1870-1924 (New York: JewishMuseum, 1966). 30. Letterfrom Romare H. Beardento Mr.Hoving, July 9, 1968,John Henrik Clarke Papers: Box 42-Harlemon MyMind Folders. 3 1. Theletter continues with addresses and phone numbers of Jacob Lawrence, Charles Alston, ErnestCrichlow, James Stead, Frank Dandridge, Mel Patrick,Norman Lewis, and Hale Woodruff forSchoener to contactfor input about the inclusion of artworks.Letter from Romare Bearden to Allon[Schoener], June 6, 1968.In September,Bearden wrote Hoving, expressing concerns about the museum'splan for a separateart exhibit "to be installedat somedistance from the Special Galleries wherethe photographic material, and thememorabilia, are to be shown,we are anxiousto learn how thedifferent sections are to be coordinated."Romare Bearden to ThomasHoving, September 27, 1968,John Henrik Clarke Papers: Box 42-Harlemon MyMind Folders. There were no color transparenciesof artworkincluded in thefinal exhibition although this was one ofSchoener's ideas duringthe exhibition planning stages in 1968. 32. RomareBearden, Sam GilhamJr., Richard Hunt, Jacob Lawrence, Tom Lloyd,William Williams,and Hale Woodruff,"The Black Artistin America:A Symposium,"The Metropolitan Museumof Art Bulletin, January 1969, 246. 33. Schoener,Harlem on MyMind (1995), unpaginated. 34. McGheewas fromMilwaukee, Harper was fromChicago, and Nelsonwas "a respected memberof theManhattan black community." Allon Schoener,"Introduction to theNew Edition," inHarlem on MyMind (1995), unpaginated. 35. Artof the American Negro, organized by artist Romare Bearden, was mountedat Kenwood Reter's Furniturestore on 125thStreet in Harlem.Sharon F. Patton,African-American Art (Oxford andNew York:Oxford University Press, 1998), 210. 36. Theother members of the Community Advisory Committee were: Mrs. Katherine Aldridge, WilliamDeFosset, Andrew T. Hatcher,Mrs. Daisy Hicks,Dr. JohnL. S. Holloman,Robert Hooks, CharlesInniss, Hulan Jack, Arnold Johnson , Mrs. Thelma G. Johnson,Carl Lawrence, Miss Dorothy Maynor,Mrs. GenevièveMcClane, The HonorableConstance Baker Motley, Miss JoanMurray, LarryNeal, Gil Noble,George Norford, Mrs. Dorothy Orr, L. JosephOverton, The HonorableBasil A. Paterson,C. MelvinPatrick, The HonorableAdam Clayton Powell Jr., The HonorableCharles B. Rangel,Layhmond Robinson, James Sneed, The HonorablePercy Sutton, Edward Taylor, Dr. WyattT. Walker,The Honorable James L. Watson,Reverend M. MoranWeston, Bruce McM. Wright, ColonelJohn Silvera, and RobertJones." John Henrik Clarke Papers: Box 42-Harlemon MyMind Folders. 37. Glueck,"Harlem Cultural Council Drops Support for Metropolitan Show," New York Times, November23, 1968,62. 38. JohnHenrik Clarke Papers: Box 42-Harlem on MyMind Folders. 39. Glueck,"Harlem Cultural Council Drops Support for Metropolitan Show." 40. Ibid. 4 1. Schoener( 1995), unpaginated. 42. MartinArnold, "Museum Edited Essay by Girl, 1 7," New YorkTimes, February 1, 1969, 29; ThomasHoving, Making the Mummies Dance: Insidethe Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York: Simonand Schuster,1993), 176.This omission of the footnotes and quotations brought accusations thatVan Ellisonplagiarized parts of hercatalog essay fromNathan Glazer and Daniel Moynihan,

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Beyondthe Melting Pot: TheNegroes, Puerto Ricans, Jews, Italians, and Irishof New YorkCity (Cambridge,MA: MIT Press,1963), a sourcefor her term paper. 43. Birt,"A Lifein Photography,"in Willis-Braithwaite,VanDerZee, 59. 44. VanEllison, "Introduction," in Schoener (1968), 13-14.It was laterdetermined that some ofVan Ellison's inflammatory quotes were paraphrased from the Glazer and Moynihan book which was notconsidered a racisttext. Van Ellison's original term paper referenced the book in footnotes thatSchoener asked her to remove.Van Ellison,"Introduction" in Schoener(1968), 14; Hoving, Makingthe Mummies Dance, 176; Birt,"A Lifein Photography," 60; Schoener,Harlem on MyMind (1995), unpaginated. 45. Schoener,Harlem on MyMind (1995), unpaginated. 46. Hoving,Making the Mummies Dance, 172. 47. "Mayor,Hoving Feud Over 'Racism' at Met Show,"New YorkNews, January 17, 1969, 3. 48. Interviewbetween Birt and Schoener,Birt, "A Lifein Photography,"62. 49. MurraySchumach, "Harlem Exhibition Opens to Crowds,"New YorkTimes, January 19, 1969,61. 50. Twenty-sixthousand copies of the catalog were stored in the basement of the Metropolitan forseveral years. Eventually they were donated to variousBlack organizations.Schoener, Harlem on MyMind ('995), 10. 51. "MuseumWithdraws Controversial Catalog," New YorkAmsterdam News, February 8, 1969,4. The eventtook place February10, 1969. 52. Two laterversions of thecatalog were published in 1979 and 1995. The 1979 version extendedthe years explored to 1978. In thisversion, Hoving's "Preface," Van Ellison's"Introduc- tion,"and Schoener's "Editor'sForeword" were omitted. Schoener provided a differentforeword alongwith a forewordby Black scholar Nathan Irvin Huggins. In the1995 version, the original texts fromthe 1968 catalog appeared along with a new"Foreword" by Black scholarHenry Louis Gates Jr.and a new introductionby Schoener. 53. See "Lettersto theEditor of The Times,"New YorkTimes, January 22, 1969,46; January 29, 1969,40; and February1, 1969,28, fordocumentation of this conflict. 54. In anticipationof the opening oí Harlemon MyMind, the Met held a symposiumin which Harlemartists discussed the problems of the Black artistin America.Throughout the event, the importanceof museum recognition of Black artists is discussedin relationship to the Harlem on My Mindand withina largernational context. The museumbulletin published the transcription of the symposium:Romare Bearden (moderator), Sam GilliamJr., Richard Hunt, Jacob Lawrence, Tom Lloyd,William Williams, and Hale Woodruff,"The Black Artistin America:A Symposium,"The MetropolitanMuseum of Art Bulletin, January 1969, 245-260. 55. AllonSchoener, "Editor's Foreword," in Harlemon MyMind: Cultural Capital of Black America1900-1968, ed. AllonSchoener (New York:Dell, 1979), 11. 56. Quotedin Schoener,Harlem on MyMind (1995), unpaginated. 57. JamesClifford, The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and Art(Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversity Press, 1998), 224. 58. Otheroriginal members of Spiral were Hale Woodruff,Charles Alston, and Merton Simpson. Latermembers were Emma Amos (the only woman), Reginald Gammon, and Richard Mayhew. See, RuthFine, The Art of Romare Bearden, with contributions by Mary Lee Corlett,et. al. (Washington: NationalGallery of Art in associationwith Harry N. Abrams,2003), 28. 59. Schoener,Harlem on MyMind (1995), unpaginated. 60. Ibid. 61. Letterfrom Romare Bearden to Allon Schoener, June 6, 1968.John Henrik Clarke Papers: Box 42-Harlem on MyMind Folders. 62. In thewords of BennyAndrews, the BECC was organized forthe purpose of making surethere would be no moreHarlem on MyMind exhibitions foisted on thepublic, both black and white."Benny Andrews, "The B.E.C.C. Black EmergencyCultural Coalition," Arts Magazine, Summer1 970, 18-1 9; Patton,African-American Art, 211. 63. Andrewsquoted in RichardJ. Gruber, American Icons: FromMadison to Manhattan, the Artof Benny Andrews, 1948-1997 (Augusta, GA: MorrisMuseum of Art, 1997), 141. 64. The initialgroup of protestors included Bob Carter,Bill Durante,Mahler Ryder, Reginald Gammon,Norman Lewis, RaymondSaunders, Henri Ghent, Vivian Browne, Calvin Douglass, CliffJoseph, Joan Sandier, Russ Thompson, Ed Taylor,Felrath Hines, Mel Roman,Roy DeCarava, RaymondAndrews, Barbara Carter, Romare Bearden, Benny, Mary Ellen, Christopher, Julia, and ThomasAndrews, John Dobbs, Alice Neel, Tecla, Zeb, andFrancesca. See Andrews,"The B.E.C.C. Black EmergencyCultural Coalition," 19 and Gruber,American Icons, 142. 65. "MuseumPickets Assail Hovingover ComingHarlem Exhibition, New YorkTimes, January15, 1969,41; JozefaStuart, "How Hip Shoulda MuseumGet?" 66. "Harlemon Whose Mind" leaflet,Benny Andrews archives, Litchneld, CT, quotedm Gruber,American Icons, 142,n. 190.

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67. At thetime of Harlem on MyMind, the only Black employeesof theMetropolitan were janitors.Schoener, Harlem on My Mind(1995), 1. The Metropolitanhired its first Black curator, LoweryStokes Sims, in 1986. 68. Gruber,American Icons, 142. 69. Schumach,Harlem Exhibition Opens, 61. 70. Schoener,Harlem on MyMind (1995), unpaginated. 71. Author'sinterview with Richard Mayhew, February 9, 2006, Soquei,California. 72. This is thevisitor count according to MetropolitanMuseum vice-director Joseph Noble. See, Schumach,Harlem Exhibition Opens, 6 1. 73. Schoener,Harlem on MyMind (1995), unpaginated.Note that the Met dedicatedthe ex- hibitionto King."Agenda," Harlem Exhibition Research Committee Meeting, May 1, 1968.John HenrikClarke Papers: Box 42-Harlemon MyMind Folders. 74. EugeneD. Genovese,"An HistorianLooks at Hoving'sHarlem: Harlem on His Back," Artforum7 (February 1969): 35. 75. Twoexamples of debates over representations ofMalcolm X inmore recent history are the filmMalcolm X (1992) by SpikeLee, and theMalcolm X stampissued by theU.S. PostalService as partof theirBlack Heritageseries in 1999. Lee's feature-lengthfilm showed different stages of Malcolm'slife from his childhood to his death. The film revived Malcolm X's popularityand piqued interestin MalcolmX fora new generationof viewers.Lee's heavilycritiqued film represented MalcolmX as a complexman who was morethan the popular image of an advocateof violence. The stampcaused nationwide discussions about whether or notMalcolm X was a suitablefigure fora stamp,from which period of Malcolm'slife should the photograph be taken,and whatwas Malcolm'srelationship to thephotographer. 76. Yearwoodremembers that the Black photographer most represented in the exhibition was his friendJames VanDerZee. Yearwood states, "After VanDerZee, I had themost photographs in theexhibition." Yearwood's photographs do notappear in theexhibition catalog because it went to pressbefore his work was selectedby the exhibition organizers. Author's interview with Yearwood, December15, 2005, Harlem,New York. 77. Author'sinterview with Yearwood. The advertisementwas placedin theWorld Telegram and Sun. 78. Author'sinterview with Yearwood. 79. Author'sinterviews with Yearwood and Mayhew. 80. Interviewwith VanDerZee conducted by Reginald McGhee and Candice Van Ellison in The Worldof James VanDerZee: A VisualRecord of Black Americans, compiled and with an introduction byReginald McGhee (New York:Grove Press, 1969). 8 1. McGheeco-founded the institute with Charles Inniss. James Haskins, James VanDerZee: ThePicture-Takin' Man (New York:Dodd, Mead, 1979),247; Birt,"A Life in Photography,"64. Ironically,although Harlem on My Mindmarked a "discovery"of VanDerZee's workoutside of Harlem,VanDerZee did notreceive any greatfinancial benefit from the inclusion of his workin Harlemof My Mind. VanDerZee reports that the Met paid him"more than three thousand dollars" forpermission to use his photographs.In financialdebt and caringfor his ailingwife, VanDerZee losthis house/photographystudio shortly after the exhibition closed. Birt, 65. 82. DeborahWillis-Thomas, Picturing Us: AfricanAmerican Identity in Photography(New York:New Press, 1996). Willis also wrotea monographabout James VanDerZee, VanDerZee: Photographer,1886-1983 (Washington, DC, HarryN. Abrams,1993) and an encyclopedichistory ofAfrican- American photographers, Reflections in Black: A Historyof Black Photographers, 1840 to thePresent (New York,W. W. Norton& Company,2000) amongseveral publications. 83. DavidVestal, Roy DeCarava, Ray Francis, and Margery Mann, "Can Whiteydo a Beautiful Black PictureShow?" Popular Photography, May 1969, 122. Quotedin PeterGalassi, "Introduc- tion,"in Roy DeCarava: A Retrospective(New York:Museum of Modern Art, 1996), 33. 84. Galassi,Roy DeCarava, 19. 85. See ChristopherPhillips, "The JudgmentSeat of Photography,"in TheContest of Mean- ing: CriticalHistories of Photography, ed. RichardBolton (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press,1989) for a discussionof TheFamily of Man inrelationship to a post-World War II unificationproject and the roleof photographyas a mediumused to promotea globallyhumanitarian image. See also, John Szarkowki,"The Familyof Man,"Studies in ModernArt 4 (New York:Harry Abrams, 1994), 12- 37; BernardDufour, "The Familyof Man;' ArtPress 233, March1998, 49-53; and Eric J. Sandeen, Picturingan Exhibition:The Family of Man and the1950s (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press,1995) forcritical analyses of Steichen'sexhibition. 86. Hoving,Harlem on MyMind (1968), unpaginated. 87. Ibid. 88. Hoving,Harlem on MyMind { 1993), 168. 89. This pretentiousplay withdistance and proximitybetween Hoving's elite environment "downthe avenue" and theHarlem world is in keepingwith the reinforcement of racial and class stratificationthrough Radical Chic as expressedby Wolfe.

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90. Weusi(Swahili for Black) was a groupof artists interested in abstraction based on African formsand rhythms. Formed in 1967,Weusi consisted of young emerging artists concerned with Black nationalistideology. Abdullah Aziz, Falcon Beazer, Kay Brown,Gaylord Hassan, Bill Howell,Rudy Irwin(Saba Kachenga),Otto Neals, Ademola Olugebefola, Okoe Pyatt, James Phillips, James Sepyo, TaiwoShabazz, and Nii AheneMettle Nunoo from Ghana. Kay Brown,"The Weusi Artists," Weusi: TheMovement A RenaissanceRetrospective (New York:Jamaica Arts Center, 1995), 8. Author's interviewwith Richard Mayhew. 91. Author'sinterview with Richard Mayhew. 92. Aldridge,'"Harlem on My Mind': A Boxed in Feeling,"New YorkAmsterdam News, February1, 1969,38. 93. See RomareBearden to ThomasHoving, June 6, July9, and September27, 1968. John HenrikClarke Papers: Box 42-Harlemon MyMina1 Folders. 94. Andrews,"The B.E.C.C," 19. 95. Ibid. 96. A lateraccount of themeeting between the BECC and theWhitney explained that the coalitionmade the followingfour demands to the Whitney,which the museumrejected: 1. the Museumshould put on an exhibitionof Black artistswith a Black guestcurator; 2. putmore Black artistsin theWhitney's Annual; 3. hirea Black curatorialstaff to coordinatethese endeavors and otheractivities in thefuture; 4. stagefive or moresolo exhibitionsof Black artistsduring the year. Andrews,"The B.E.C.C," 19-20and Gruber,American Icons, 144. 97. Andrews,"The B.E.C.C," 19. 98. ArtistFaith Ringgold took on thebattle against racism and sexismbeginning in thelate 1960s. In 1971,Ringgold co-founded Where We At,an artistgroup for women, as an alternative to themale dominatedartist group Spiral led by RomareBearden. Patton, African-American Art, 197. 99. One artistwho was involvedin the coalition'sprotest against the Whitney,Raymond Saunders,was includedin the exhibition. Fifteen other artists withdrew from the Whitney exhibition choosinginstead to be in theexhibition, "Rebuttal to theWhitney," at theBlack-owned Acts of Art Gallery.P atton, African- American Art, 212. 100. EdmundB. Gaither,"Introduction," in Afro-AmericanArtists: New Yorkand Boston (Boston:Museum of Fine Arts, 1970). 101. Ibid 102. StevenC Dubin,"Crossing 125th Street: Harlem on MyMind Revisited," 49. 103. Dr.Lowery Stokes Sims is currentlypresident of The StudioMuseum in Harlem and has receivedseveral honorary doctorates for her groundbreaking work at theMetropolitan Museum of Art.See, LoweryStokes Sims, "Discrete Encounters: A PersonalRecollection of The Black Art Scene ofthe 1970s," in Kellie Jones,Energy /Experimentation: Black Artists and Abstraction, 1964-1980 (New York:The StudioMuseum in Harlem,2006), 50. 104. As quotedin Dubin,Displays of Power, 54. Goldenis currentlyChief Curator at The StudioMuseum in Harlem. 105. Ibid. 106. The StudioMuseum and Cinque were co-founded by artist and activist Romare Bearden whowas integralto theprotest of Harlem on MyMind. 107. I am gratefulfor the work of SharonF. Pattonthrough her book African-American Art and itshelpful timeline for much of this information. 108. DeborahWilhs-Braithwaite, VanDerZee,*. 109. In thecase ofthe Met, nine exhibitions have featured African- American artists in group andsolo showsbeginning in 1976.Three of the nine were traveling shows organized by the Met but noton view at themuseum: Black Artists from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, April 14- June 4, 1976(traveling). This exhibition was thefirst show of Black art at the museum and was organizedby Sims.She recallsof the experience, "That project resulted in my first lesson in institutional politics." Sims,48; SelectedWorks by Black Artists from the Collection of TheMetropolitan Museum of Art, February7-March 30, 1979 (traveling);Faces and Figures:Selected Works by Black Artists, The MetropolitanMuseum of Art, February 16- April 1, 1988(traveling); Jean-Michel Basquiat, October 19, 1992-April22, 1993; / TellMy Heart, The Art of Horace Pippin,February 1-April 30, 1995; Barbara Chase-Riboud:The Monument Drawings, June 22-September 5, 1999;African-American Artists,1929-1945: Prints,Drawings, and Paintingsin TheMetropolitan Museum of Art, January 15-July6, 2003; ModernStorytellers: Bearden, Birch, Lovell, Ringgold, May 6-December1, 2003; RomareBearden at theMet, October 19, 2004-March 6, 2005. Thanksto Lisa M. Messinger,As- sistantCurator, Department of Nineteenth-Century, Modern, and ContemporaryArt, Metropolitan Museumof Art for help constructing this list.

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