Doug Harris photographs and papers, 1960s-1970s

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Summary

Creator:
Harris, Doug, 1943-
Abstract:
Doug Harris (b. 1943) is a Black photographer and cinematographer who worked for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Collection consists largely of photographic materials, as well as a very small number of papers and films, documenting Harris' photographic work and travels in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Material in the collection documents Harris' work both with and outside of SNCC; Harris' interest in Black history and culture; the civil rights movement in the South; Harlem, N.Y., and the Black Arts movement; and Harris' 1970 trip to Tanzania. Acquired as part of the John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture, and as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts.
Extent:
1.5 Linear Feet
Language:
Materials are in English.
Research Center:
John Hope Franklin Research Center for African and African American History and Culture
Archive of Documentary Arts
Collection ID:
RL.13191

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists largely of photographic materials, as well as a small number of papers and films, documenting Harris' photographic work and travels in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Material in the collection documents Harris' work both with and outside of SNCC; Harris' interest in Black history and culture; the civil rights movement in the South; Harlem, N.Y., and the Black Arts movement; and Harris' 1970 trip to Tanzania.

Papers such as correspondence, invoices, and a non-profit film foundation proposal mostly reflect Harris' work outside of SNCC. The non-profit proposal, as well as the correspondence, program brochures, and news article about East Africa also reflect Harris' interest in Black history and culture.

Photographs consist of prints, contact sheets, and negatives that document the civil rights movement in the South; Harlem and the Black Arts movement; and Harris' 1970 trip to Tanzania. Photographic materials related to the civil rights movement include prints and/or contact sheets featuring A. Philip Randolph, Lester Maddox, Lowndes County (Alabama), Newark storefronts, and a voter class in Butterwood, N.C. Unidentified contact sheets may include additional materials related to the civil rights movement. Contact sheets of a Studio Museum exhibit installation, an unidentified Harlem event (likely the student takeover of the City College of New York), and other unidentified prints and contact sheets document Harlem, N.Y., and the Black Arts movement. Finally, a number of contact sheets document an October 1970 trip that Harris took to Tanzania. The contact sheets contain images of African wildlife, Tanzanian children and adults in a variety of settings, landscapes, and buildings and structures.

Motion picture films consist of eight, small, 16mm reels, containing camera experiments, screen tests, commercials for NBC sports, a film of young Black men and boys sledding in St. Nicholas Park in New York City, and an excerpt of a scene from Amiri Baraka's play, The Motion of History.

Biographical / historical:

Doug Harris (b. 1943) is a Black photographer and cinematographer. Harris joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in 1964 and worked as a photographer for them, documenting the civil rights movement in the U.S. South. He also photographed everyday life in Harlem, New York and the Black Arts movement during the 1960s and 1970s. After SNCC, Harris taught motion picture production at the City College of New York, worked as a cinematographer for ABC-TV, and started a film company called Harlem Audiovisuals. He later moved to Rhode Island and was a Preservationist for Ceremonial Landscapes for the Narragansett Indian Tribe, where he worked to identify and preserve Indigenous ceremonial landscapes.

Sources: "The SNCC Photo Department," SNCC Legacy Project website (accessed July 13, 2026); "Vision & Justice and Aperture Launch Landmark Book Series to Present a More Inclusive History of Photography and Representational Justice," Aperture press release, April 5, 2024 (accessed July 13, 2026).

Acquisition information:
The Doug Harris photographs and papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift from Genevieve Harris-Fraser in 2025.
Processing information:

Processed by Leah Tams and Craig Breaden, July 2026.

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2025-0161.

Arrangement:

Arranged into the following series: Papers, Photographs, and Film.

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 original audiovisual items that are closed to use. Contact Research Services with questions.

Access note. Some materials in this collection are digital audiovisual materials 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], Doug Harris photographs and papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1hj1t