Resource Guide Three Photographers from : Jules Aarons, Morton Broffman, Joe Conzo

he exhibition Three Photographers from the Bronx: Jules Aarons, Morton Broffman, and Joe Conzo surveys the work of three artists for whom the idea of Tcommunity played a central role. Collectively, their work narrates the dynamic changes in the borough spanning the sixties to the eighties. By presenting a series of artworks ranging from the very personal to the historically significant, the exhibition encourages viewers to consider the role of photography as an effective form of social activism that expands traditional notions of community.

Learning Objectives • Participants will be introduced to the unique history of the Bronx through documentary images that show the borough’s evolution from the late 1940s through the early 1980s. • Participants will be introduced to the national Civil Rights Movement during the second half of the twentieth century. • Participants will understand the term documentary photography and discuss it as an artistic practice. • Participants will closely observe, interpret, and draw meaning from the photographs in relation to their own lives.

This guide focuses on one work by each of the three photographers. Each section includes a brief biography of the artist, questions and topics for discussion. Three Photographers from the Bronx 1 Civil rights activism in the National events and the Bronx Bronx events

1900 1940 1950 1960 1965

1896 1920-1940 1953-54 1963 In Plessy vs. Ferguson the Urban neighborhoods develop In Brown vs. Board of Education Martin Luther King Jr. gives his Supreme Court rules facilities can in the Bronx, supplemented by the Supreme Court rules that “I Have a Dream” speech on the be “separate but equal,” allowing major institutions like the New “separate” facilities cannot steps of the Lincoln Memorial in segregation. York Yankees, the Bronx Zoo, and be “equal,” reversing Plessy Washington, D.C. as part of the Fordham University. v. Ferguson and banning March on Washington, the largest 1934 segregation. civil rights demonstration ever. The Federal Housing Authority 1940-50 and private banks implement Neighborhood growth peaks; 1957 1964 redlining, barring residents from at the same time, racial Little Rock Central High School in The Civil Rights Act of 1964 “risky” neighborhoods - including demographics started shifting due Arkansas is integrated, requiring prohibits discrimination based the South Bronx - from taking out to “white flight” to the suburbs the Little Rock Nine students on race, color, religion, sex, or mortgages. This policy continues and influx in African American to be escorted by the National national origin. for decades and significantly and Puerto Rican residents, Guard to ensure their safety. contributes to the Bronx’s housing resulting in racial segregation in 1965 problems and larger urban decay. neighborhoods. 1950-60 Activists calling for African City planner Robert Moses’ American civil rights march from Cross-Bronx Expressway Selma, Alabama to the state cuts through neighborhoods, capital. These become known demolishing infrastructure and as the Selma to Montgomery housing, displacing families, and Marches and lead to the passing destroying local stability and of the Voting Rights Act. sense of community. 1965 1970 2000

1965 1968 1970 1977 The Voting Rights Act of 1965 Eugenio Maria de Hostos Young Lords, a Puerto Rican During the World Series at prohibits racial discrimination Community College opens in nationalist, political and activist Yankee Stadium cameras in voting, reiterating the 1868 response to Puerto Rican and organization establishes an pan over the flames burning Fourteenth and Fifteenth African American demands for information center in the South at a nearby empty school, Amendments and guaranteeing better education in the South Bronx and prints the bilingual accompanied by sportscaster the rights of black citizens that Bronx. To this day, it continues newspaper Palante. That same Howard Cosell’s comment “the had been suppressed. to “meet the higher educational year they take over Lincoln Bronx is burning,” a phrase that needs of people from this Hospital, addressing a lack of came to problematically signify 1966 and similar communities who drug rehabilitation programming. the Bronx in the nation’s popular Joe Conzo’s grandmother Dr. historically have been excluded imagination. Evelina López Antonetty starts from higher education.” 1971 United Bronx Parents, a nonprofit The is 1977 organization to support the needs 1968 established in the public rotunda President Jimmy Carter’s of local parents and improve the The Civil Rights Act of 1968, of the Bronx County Courthouse televised visit to the South Bronx quality of Bronx public school also know as the Fair Housing on 161st Street and Grand calls national attention to the education. Act, guarantees equal housing Concourse to provide the borough neighborhood’s needs. opportunity regardless of race, with easily accessible art. 1968 color, religion, or national origin. 1981 South East Bronx Community 1973 Fort Apache, The Bronx is Organization opens in Hunts The birth of hip hop at 1520 released, inaccurately portraying Point. Sedgwick Avenue unites the Latino and African American community through music culture. residents of the Bronx. Three Photographers from the Bronx 2 Jules Aarons Relaxing on a Summer Day: Bronx, c. 1960s Gelatin silver print 9 x 8 inches

Overview Discussion Through this series of photographs, This work depicts three women seated Jules Aarons (b. 1921, Bronx) presents an in patio chairs on the sidewalk outside an intimate view of the Jewish community in apartment building. Have your students take the Bronx, known as the “Park Avenue of a moment and consider what is happening in the working class.” At the time, over half the scene. the borough’s population of 1.4 million was Jewish. He began taking photographs while ASK Why are the women sitting outside? an undergraduate at the City College of New What do you think they’re doing and feeling? York and soon excelled at , Have you seen a similar scene in your own documenting the casual happenings of neighborhood? Why do you think Aaron’s everyday urban life. “My basic approach to chose to photograph this scene? street portraits was to avoid intruding on the scene,’’ he said. These early pictures taken primarily in the 1960s show informal, almost lackadaisical scenes: a woman reading a Documentary photography: Yiddish newspaper, his mother hanging Photography that visually records reality laundry in the yard, residents waiting for the and/or history. It includes a wide range of train and locals sitting on benches in the subject matter from significant historical park. His photographs are notable for their events to everyday life. Originating in a informality, sense of a shared neighborly tradition of photojournalism, the genre peace, and emotional warmth. has expanded to encompass a wide range of contemporary art practices. Scenes of everyday life: Depictions of ordinary life, whether documented or staged. These scenes often focus on the mundane aspects of contemporary domestic life, from grocery shopping to walking down the street.

Three Photographers from the Bronx 3 Morton Broffman Dr. King and Coretta Scott King Leading Marchers, Selma to Montgomery, March 1965 Gelatin silver print Non-vintage print in 2010 by Neal Broffman 8 3/4 x 13 ½ inches

Overview Morton Broffman’s (b. 1928, Bronx) Ask your students to look closely at the work as a photographer is largely informed photograph Dr. King and Coretta Scott King by his social conscience and commitment Leading Marchers: Selma to Montgomery. to civil rights. He produced a significant body of images of the American Civil Rights ASK What do you think is happening in the Movement and the political and social photo? How are the figures posed? What do upheaval throughout his active photography their facial expressions communicate? career from the sixties through the eighties. His candid photos capture the energy and EXPLAIN how Dr. King was inspired by the turbulence of the nation as history unfolded. leader of the Indian independence movement A keen sense of the commitment to social Mahatma Gandhi to unswervingly practice the justice that brought together a nation-wide principle of nonviolence: community infuses his images. “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in Civil Rights Movement: history, which cuts without wounding and A nation-wide social movement that ennobles the man who wields it.” sought to end racial discrimination and guarantee all citizens’ rights. ASK Is the photo about an individual, or a community? Who is included in this community? How does it go beyond the typical understanding of community defined by place? Discussion What bound this geographically widespread The Selma to Montgomery Marches community together? of 1965 played an instrumental role in the passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year. Recognizing the importance of these Principle of nonviolence: Started by non-violent protests, activists, journalists, Mahatma Gandhi, an approach that and photographers including Broffman came advocates fighting back against injustice from across the nation to demonstrate their through peaceful action instead violence. support and document this historic moment.

Three Photographers from the Bronx 4 Joe Conzo Fort Apache Demonstrations, South Bronx. April, 1980 Gelatin silver print 11x14

Overview Joe Conzo (b. 1963, Bronx) began taking photographs at the early age of nine. A product of familial grassroots activism and a mixture of Latin music, disco, and hip- hop, he produced a mass of documentary photography recording the experiences of Discussion his community. Conzo’s grandmother Evelina Discuss racial stereotypes and how Fort Antonetty, a legendary Bronx activist, is Apache, the Bronx affected Conzo and celebrated to this day for founding United his grandmother’s community. Direct your Bronx Parents, an organization dedicated students’ attention to the banner shown in the to improving schools, parent resources photograph and have a volunteer read it aloud. and housing within the community. The producers of the 1981 movie Fort Apache, ASK What is a stereotype? Why are they the Bronx approached Antonetty, to garner offensive? Why was Conzo’s grandmother local support. The producers promised jobs angry about the film? If you were in her shoes, to residents in exchange for their support how would you react and why? Have you been of filming in the community. After reading subjected to stereotyping or used a stereotype the script, Antonetty realized that the film to describe someone yourself? exploited racial stereotypes and portrayed the Bronx as a wasteland. Outraged by this blatant degradation of her neighborhood, she Social activism: Action taken to change mobilized a group of protesters who hounded present civil conditions through non- the shooting locations. The movie ended up violent forms of protest, grassroots being a box-office success but Antonetty and awareness or organized campaigns. the protestors could claim victory through a Social activists range from individuals to disclaimer that appeared at the beginning large organizations, and the audience of the movie that reads “This movie does ranges from the local to the international. not portray Latinos and blacks of the Bronx accurately.” Conzo’s photographs document Use this link to view a video of the Fort the protestors’ struggle while offering an Apache protest meetings: alternate narrative to the film’s stereotype of http://tinyurl.com/apacheprotest the Bronx.

Three Photographers from the Bronx 5 Common Core State Standards Completing the enclosed lessons and activities will CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.4 Determine or clarify the supplement the following Common Core anchor meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and standards for English Language Arts. Please note that phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful we consider a work of art to stand in for a text. word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials as appropriate. READING CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.1 Read closely to CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.6 Acquire and use determine what the text says explicitly and to make accurately a range of general academic and domain- logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn writing, speaking and listening at the college and career from the text. readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.2 Determine central term important to comprehension or expression. ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.3 Analyze how and why Bibliography individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over “About.” SEBCO Development Inc. Accessed February the course of a text. 24, 2015. http://www.sebcodevelopment.org/about-sebco. html. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.9 Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order “About.” United Bronx Parents Inc. Last modified 2015. to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the Accessed February 24, 2015. http://www.ubpinc.org/ authors take. ubpwp/.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R.4 Interpret words and “About the Young Lords.” Latino/a Education Network phrases as they are used in a text, including determining Service. Accessed February 24, 2015. http://palante.org/ technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and AboutYoungLords.htm. analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. Brownlee, Peter John. “Genre painting in American art.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford SPEAKING AND LISTENING University Press. Accessed February 24, 2015. http:// CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.SL.1 Prepare for and www.oxfordartonline.com/subscriber/article/grove/art/ participate effectively in a range of conversations and T2086907. collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. Cox, Julian, Heiferman, Marvin and Miss Rosen. Three Photographers from the Bronx, edited by Antonio Sergio LANGUAGE Bessa. New York: Little Big Man, 2015. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.L.2 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in Gierstberg, Frits et al. Documentary now! : Contemporary different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning strategies in photography, film and the visual arts. Reflect or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or #04. Rotterdam: NAi Publishers, 2005. listening.

Three Photographers from the Bronx 6 Bibliography (cont.) Gonzalez, Evelyn. The Bronx. New York: Columbia Ritzer. N.p.: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Accessed University Press, 2004. February 24, 2015. http://www.sociologyencyclopedia. com.avoserv.library.fordham.edu/subscriber/ “History.” The Bronx Museum of the Arts. Last modified tocnode.html?id=g9781405124331_yr2014_chunk_ 2015. Accessed February 24, 2015. http://www. g978140512433125_ss1-263. bronxmuseum.org/about/. Rosler, Martha. “In, around, and afterthoughts (on “History of Hostos.” Hostos Community College, The City documentary photography).” 1981. In 3 Works. Halifax, University of New York. Accessed February 24, 2015. N.S.: Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design, http://www.hostos.cuny.edu/About-Hostos/The-History-of- 1981. PDF. Hostos. Thirteen WNET New York Public Media. “African Jonnes, Jill. South Bronx Rising: The rise, fall, and American World: Timeline.” PBS. Education Broadcasting resurrection of an American city. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Corp. Last modified 2002. Accessed February 24, 2015. Fordham University Press, 2002. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aaworld/timeline.html.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Weissman, Terri. “Documentary photography.” Grove Statement written in Birmingham, AL, April 16, 1963. Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, Bates College. Last modified January 1, 2001. Accessed accessed February 24, 2015, http://www.oxfordartonline. March 6, 2015. http://abacus.bates.edu/admin/offices/ com/subscriber/article/grove/art/T2229236. dos/mlk/letter.html.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “Nobel Lecture: The Quest for Peace and Justice.” Lecture presented in University of Oslo, Norway, December 11, 1964. Nobelprize.org. Last modified 2014. Accessed February 24, 2015. http://www. nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king- lecture.html.

Madrigal, Alexis C. “The Racist Housing Policy That Made Your Neighborhood.” The Atlantic, May 22, 2014. Accessed February 24, 2015. http://www.theatlantic.com/ business/archive/2014/05/the-racist-housing-policy-that- This resource guide was produced by The Bronx Museum made-your-neighborhood/371439/. of the Arts Education Department: Antonio Sergio Bessa, Director of Programs; Hatuey Ramos Fermín, Curator Parker, Martin, Valerie Fournier, and Patrick Reedy. of Education; Marissa Kucheck, Education Programs “Grassroots.” In The Dictionary of Alternatives. London: Manager; Katy Patil, Education Programs Consultant. Zed Books, 2007. Accessed February 24, 2015. http:// Design: Marissa Kucheck. avoserv.library.fordham.edu/login?url=http://search. credoreference.com.avoserv.library.fordham.edu/content/ Three Photographers from the Bronx: Jules Aarons, entry/zedalt/grassroots/0. Morton Broffman, and Joe Conzo is made possible by support from Shelley Fox Aarons and Philip Aarons; Pickering, Michael. “Stereotyping and Stereotypes.” In Olivia Douglas and David DiDomenico; The Robert Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, edited by George Mapplethorpe Foundation; and Millennium Partners.

Three Photographers from the Bronx 7