Sheila Pree Bright collection, 2013-2023

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Summary

Creator:
Bright, Sheila Pree and Archive of Documentary Arts (Duke University)
Abstract:
Sheila Pree Bright is an award-winning photographic artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. The collection contains 50 digital archival prints and gelatin silver prints, each approximately 32x32 inches, for the #1960Now project that were later published in a book with the same name. The project includes associated materials such as a copy of the book and model version; event flyers; personal notes; digital files; a t-shirt with a button; and other assorted material. Also included are images of the wheat-pasted murals created by Bright depicting activists and other materials from the related project 1960What; images of George Floyd protests; materials for the project Mothers March On featuring mothers whose children were killed by police; and images related to the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. Materials depict portraits of various activists, community organizations, Black Lives Matter, and people participating in protests and other events in several cities across the United States between 2013-2023. They cover subjects such as social justice and activism, civil rights, police brutality, racism and discrimination, protest, and grassroots organizing. Acquired by the Archive of Documentary Arts.
Extent:
15 Linear Feet
21 Gigabytes (572 files)
Language:
Materials in English.
Collection ID:
RL.13153

Background

Scope and content:

The Sheila Pree Bright collection contains materials related to several projects undertaken by Bright between 2013-2023. The collection includes 50 digital archival prints and gelatin silver prints, each approximately 32x32 inches, related to Bright's #1960Now (2018) project and book, which examines the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s alongside contemporary movements including Black Lives Matter. Materials for the #1960Now project include images featured in an exhibit at New York University and associated book materials, various event flyers, exhibition programs, personal notes, a t-shirt with a button, and other assorted physical materials. In addition, the collection contains various digital materials including image, video, and text files related to #1960Now, Bright's 1960What murals, George Floyd protests, Bright's Mothers March On project, and images related to the fiftieth anniversary of the Voting Rights Act (1965) in Selma, Alabama.

Materials in the collection feature portraits of activists and community organizations including Black Lives Matter; mothers of individuals killed by police; prominent individuals participating in anniversary and civil rights events including past presidents; and people at various protests, demonstrations, rallies, and meetings. Bright documented these events in several U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Ferguson, Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia, Baton Rouge, Selma, and Washington, D.C. Topics covered in the collection include social justice and activism, protest, civil rights, police brutality, racism and discrimination, and grassroots organizing.

Biographical / historical:

Sheila Pree Bright is an award-winning photographic artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. Bright was born in 1967 in Waycross, Georgia and spent her early years in Germany. After returning to the United States, she completed her undergraduate degree from the University of Missouri, moved to Atlanta, and earned her Master of Fine Arts at Georgia State University.

Alongside photography, she makes public art, murals, and documentary film, writes, and lectures on her work. Bright focuses on documenting the Black experience, particularly in the South and Atlanta, and creating stories intertwining social, political, and historical contexts. This has included the #1960Now project that features portraits of past and present civil rights activists, and as well her photography documenting contemporary protest movements.

Throughout her career, Bright's work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and collections such as the International Center of Photography Museum in New York, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C., the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and more.

Sources:

Sheila Pree Bright website, "The Artist", https://www.sheilapreebright.com/about (accessed July 1, 2025).

Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South, "Sheila Pree Bright" https://southboundproject.org/photographer/sheila-pree-bright/ (accessed July 1, 2025).

ArtsATL, "Sheila Pree Bright connects movements of the past and present in #1960Now" https://www.artsatl.org/sheila-pree-bright-connects-movements-of-the-past-and-present-with-1960now/ (accessed July 2, 2025).

Acquisition information:
The Sheila Pree Bright collection was received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2025.
Processing information:

Processed by Tere Elizalde, July 2025

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2025-0062

Arrangement:

Arranged into the following series: #1960Now; George Floyd Protests; Mothers March On

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Access note. Some materials in this collection are electronic records that require special equipment. Contact Research Services with questions.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sheila Pree Bright collection, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m16b43