William J. Anderson photographs and papers, 1920s, 1947-2011, bulk 1960-2008

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Summary

Creator:
John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture and Anderson, William J., 1932-
Abstract:
Collection features the photographic work of African American photographer, sculptor, and professor of art William J. Anderson (1932-2019), from his earliest years as an art student in the 1960s, to the late 2000s. Fifty-one large black-and-white gelatin silver prints are accompanied by over 500 negatives spanning his career, as well as contact sheets, slides, and smaller photographs in black-and-white and in color. Anderson's images primarily document the southern U.S., with a focus on portraits of African American adults and children, families, the elderly; church gatherings; jazz musicians; poverty and homelessness in the city and country; life on the Sea Islands; and political rallies, riots, and Civil Rights movement events. Two significant bodies of work were taken at Daufuskie Island and a recreated African Yoruba village, both in South Carolina; there are also images are from Mexico, Central America, and France. Also included are photographs of his sculptures and exhibit openings. as well as professional correspondence, fliers and posters chiefly relating to exhibits, and a sketchbook from about 1957. Acquired as part of the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture.
Extent:
7.0 Linear Feet (9 boxes)
7.0 linear feet; approximately 1000 items
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.11022

Background

Scope and content:

Collection comprises the photographic work of African American photographer, sculptor, and professor of art William J. Anderson (1932-2019), from his earliest years as an art student in the early 1960s, to the late 2000s. Fifty-one large black-and-white gelatin silver prints are accompanied by over 500 negatives spanning his career, as well as contact sheets, slides, and smaller photographs in black-and-white and in color.

Anderson's images primarily document African American culture and society in the southern U.S., particularly in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina, with a focus on African American adults and children, families, the elderly, church gatherings, jazz musicians, poverty and homelessness in the city and country, life on the Sea Islands, and political rallies, riots, and Civil Rights marches and commemorations. Two significant bodies of work were taken on Daufuskie Island and in a recreated African Yoruba village, both in South Carolina. Other images, many of which are available only in negative format, were taken in San Francisco, Louisiana, Mexico, Central America, and France. Most of the images from Mexico and Central America date from the 1960s and are among Anderson's earliest work. There are also many images, spanning his career, of his sculptures and other artwork, and photographs of his exhibition openings. Additionally, there are some family photographs and negatives, a few of which appear to date from the 1920s and 1950s.

The large prints range in size from approximately 10x14 to 16x20 inches, and are all labeled with a title and date and print number, assigned by the photographer; they are arranged in original print number order. The other photographic work is mostly unlabeled and arranged in original order as received.

The collection also includes Anderson's professional correspondence, printed materials such as clippings, posters, and fliers, and other papers, all chiefly relating to exhibits and loans, and a sketchbook on the human form from his earliest student days, about 1957. Among the correspondence is a copy of a letter written by Coretta Scott King, thanking him for his participation in a commemorative event.

Biographical / historical:

Born in Selma, Alabama in 1932, William J. Anderson received a BA in music from Alabama State University in 1959, and a BA in Fine Art in 1962 from the Layton School of Art in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Under a full scholarship at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel, Mexico, he studied sculpture and painting, and received his MFA in 1968; he also began to to form an early interest in photography there. Motivated by concerns for racism and inequality in the United States, Anderson's first serious engagement with photography took place during the 1960s, where he photographed urban and rural poverty in the South as well as civil rights marches and other demonstrations.

After teaching in several Southern institutions, in 1990 Anderson was appointed to the art faculty at Morehouse University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he taught for many years, retiring in 2007. Anderson passed away in 2019.

His award-winning photographs have been exhibited widely in Mexico and the United States, and are in the permanent collections of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Bodleian Library in Oxford, England, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., the Yale University Art Gallery, the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut, and the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Anderson voiced this artistic philosophy in a 2003 interview in a Morehouse College publication: "I believe there is beauty in all life. From dilapidated houses and rundown farms, to old grayed gentlemen, there is simplicity that I want to capture. In my trips to various places I don't look for the affluent and prosperous. Instead, I look for a fast declining group of people who have really lived and enjoyed the living. I look for people whose faces tell a story. They know what life is about and I want to show this to the world."

Acquisition information:
The William J. Anderson photographs and papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2014. Former owner: William J. Anderson.
Processing information:

Processed and described by Paula Jeannet and Rachel Fox, August 2017.

Accession(s) represented in this collection guide: 2014-0155.

Arrangement:

Arranged in three main series: Photographic Materials (subdivided into Photographs, Contact Sheets and Negatives, and Slides), Printed Materials, and Professional Papers.

Physical facet:
Approximately 1000 items
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Access note. Collection contains some fragile materials in the form of film negatives and may require extra assistance from staff. Contact Research Services for access.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], William J. Anderson photographs and papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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