PLUNGING INTO THE VERY DEPTHS OF THE SOULS OF OUR PEOPLE: THE LIFE AND ART OF AARON DOUGLAS BY C2008 Cheryl R. Ragar Submitted to the graduate degree program in American Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________________________ Chairperson _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ Date Defended: April 1, 2008 ii The Dissertation Committee for Cheryl R. Ragar certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: PLUNGING INTO THE VERY DEPTHS OF THE SOULS OF OUR PEOPLE: THE LIFE AND ART OF AARON DOUGLAS Committee: _______________________________________ Chairperson _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ Date approved:______________________________________ iii Abstract Plunging Into the Very Depths of the Souls of Our People: The Life and Art of Aaron Douglas Visual artist Aaron Douglas is widely recognized as an important figure in African American art history. Recent journal articles, exhibitions and exhibition catalogs, and one monograph have begun to catalog his work and offer some biographical information. Yet, the richness of his life and work has yet to be documented. Douglas stands as an example of the complexities of African and American representation and identity formation in the United States from the early twentieth century into the present. His multiple roles as visual artist and storyteller, teacher to younger artists, and active public intellectual provide contexts through which to expand upon and complicate scholarship on Douglas, specifically, and American culture and history more generally. iv Acknowledgments I am deeply indebted to the community at the University of Kansas who have patiently supported and encouraged this work for many years. My mentors and colleagues at KU provided a nurturing environment for me to try out ideas, sometimes fail, and always to learn. My core committee, Charles Eldredge, David Katzman, and Norman Yetman, have endlessly demonstrated to me what scholarly life at its best can be. From them I have learned more about writing, teaching, and mentoring than I can possibly put into words here. In addition, Maryemma Graham, Cheryl Lester, John Edgar Tidwell, and Sherrie Tucker have provided wise counsel and patient guidance through crisis and accomplishment. The outstanding American Studies staff--in particular Terri Rockhold and Kay Isbell--guided me through the system and have been good friends to me. I have been blessed to know so many wonderful graduate student colleagues in my years at KU, as well. Special thanks go to the Supper Club: Maurice Bryan, Tony Clark, Rich Schur, and Rochelle Votaw, for sustaining me with good food as well as stimulating conversation around many tables in the early years of graduate school. More recently my two years teaching in the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, broadened my outlook and offered even more opportunities for me to think about my work from various disciplinary perspectives. My family, too, shares in my accomplishment here. My parents, Gary and Brenda Ragar, have often wondered about their daughter who just could not seem to get out of school but have maintained their support and love for me regardless. My sister, Angela Krause, and brother-in-law, Chad Krause, could be counted on for good- natured commentary and counsel, and more than once provided much-needed child care. I know my children especially were grateful for the respite. On a daily basis, Terry O'Connor has demonstrated unfailing care and concern for me, especially as I struggled mightily through the last couple of years. Without him my soda glass would remain unfilled, my stomach would be empty, and far less laughter would fill my life. Thank you. My work here is dedicated to my children, Alex and Emily, who had no choice but to grow up with a mother who was also a student. They have always provided perspective in my life on what is truly important. v Table of Contents Abstract . .iii Acknowledgments . .iv List of Illustrations . .vi Chapters Introduction: Seasons . 8 One: A New Negro Artist . 48 Two: Tides of Change . 74 Three: From Self-Reliance to Racial Uplift . .132 Conclusion . 192 Bibliography. 206 vi List of Illustrations Figure i.1: Carl Van Vechten, Aaron Douglas, 1933. Fisk University Galleries, Nashville .................. 8 Figure i.2: Aaron Douglas, Building More Stately Mansions, 1944. Fisk University Galleries, Nashville ................................................................................................................................................ 19 Figure i.3: Contemporary covers that feature Aaron Douglas images ................................................... 22 Figure 1.1: Aaron Douglas, in his senior year at Topeka High School, from the 1917 yearbook ......... 48 Figure 1.2: Henry O. Tanner, Nicodemus, 1899. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia ................................................................................................................................... 52 Figure 1.3: Aaron Douglas, cover for the Sunflower, the Topeka High School yearbook, 1915 .......... 60 Figure 1.4: Aaron Douglas, cover for the Sunflower, Topeka High School yearbook, 1917 ................ 60 Figure 1.5: Aaron Douglas, illustration from Topeka High School World, May 11, 1917 ................... 62 Figure 2.1: Aaron Douglas with Arthur Schomburg discussing Aspects of Negro Life: Song of the Towers, 1934. Photographs and Prints Division, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations ...................... 74 Figure 2.2: Winold Reiss, Harlem at Night, 1924. Collection of Relate Reiss ..................................... 87 Figure 2.3: Aaron Douglas, Cover for Opportunity, December 1925. Yale Collection of American Literature, The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library ............................................................... 87 Figure 2.4: Reproduction of pages written by Aaron Douglas on stationery created for Fire!!, 1926. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library ...................... 92 Figure 2.5: Map of locations of Douglas murals in Cravath Hall, Fisk University, Nashville ............... 95 Figure 2.6: Murals in Card Catalog Room, Cravath Hall, from left to right: Inspiration, Science, Night ..................................................................................................................... 95 Figure 2.7: Negro in America, 1930. South Reading Room of Cravath Hall, Fisk University, Nashville ................................................................................................................................................ 95 Figure 2.8: Aaron Douglas, Harriet Tubman, 1931. Bennett College for Women Collection, Greensboro, North Carolina ................................................................................................................. 102 Figure 2.9: Aaron Douglas, Evolution of Negro Dance, 1933. Harlem YMCA, New York City ....... 106 Figure 3.1: P. H. Polk, Aaron Douglas, ca. 1932 ................................................................................ 132 vii Figure 3.2: Aaron Douglas, Into Bondage, 1936. The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C .... 158 Figure 3.3: Aaron Douglas, Aspiration, 1936. Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco......................... 161 Figure 3.4: Aaron Douglas, 1937. Stanley S. Holmes Village, Atlantic City, New Jersey ................. 170 Figure 3.5: Aaron Douglas, Alta, 1936. Fisk University Galleries, Nashville ..................................... 174 Figure 3.6: Aaron Douglas, Boy with Toy Plane, 1938. The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art ...................................................................................................................... 175 Figure 3.7: Aaron Douglas, Portrait of Marian Anderson, 1940. Collection of Wilson, Deborah & Lauren Copeland, Detroit .................................................................................................. 175 Figure 3.8: Aaron Douglas, Scottsboro Boys, ca. 1935. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution ............................................................................................................................................. 177 Figure 3.9: Photograph from Chicago Defender, 27 August 1938 ...................................................... 182 Figure 3.10: Aaron Douglas, Haitian Landscape, 1938. Private collection ......................................... 184 Figure 4.1: Edwin Harleston, Portrait of Aaron Douglas, 1930. Carolina Art Association/Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina ........................................................................................ 192 Figure 4.2: Aaron Douglas, The Negro Speaks of Rivers (For Langston Hughes), 1941. The Walter O. Evans Collection of African American Art .................................................................. 198 8 Figure i.1: Carl Van Vechten, Aaron Douglas, 1933. Fisk University Galleries, Nashville. Introduction Seasons I’m now 72, and I just don’t have time enough. Much of these 72 years have been