Research Catalog

Title

Morgan and Marvin Smith papers, 1931-1999.

Author

Morgan and Marvin Smith (Photographers)

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

1.75 linear ft.

Summary

The Morgan and Marvin Smith papers document the careers of the Smith brothers as professional photographers, in the television and sound industry, and as needlework artists. Marvin's career as a set decorator and his artwork are also discussed. Only a small amount of correspondence is contained in this collection.

Subjects

• Scrapbooks
• M. Smith Studio (Harlem, New York, N.Y.)
• United States > Armed Forces > African Americans
• African American arts > New York (State) > New York
• Photography > Exhibition
• Photography, Artistic
• Scripts
• Harlem (New York, N.Y.) > Exhibitions
• African American artisans > New York (State) > New York
• Needlework (Patterns)
• Morgan and Marvin Smith (Photographers)
• African American photographers > New York (State) > New York
• Smith, Marvin, 1910-2003
• Smith, Morgan, 1910-1993
• African Americans > New York (State) > New York
• African American portrait photographers
• African Americans in television broadcasting > New York (State) > New York
• Oral histories
• Exhibition catalogs

Genre/Form

• Exhibition catalogs.
• Oral histories.
• Scripts.
• Scrapbooks.

Source (note)

• Monica P. Smith

Biography (note)

• Morgan and Marvin Smith, identical twins, were born in 1910 in Kentucky and developed an early interest in art and photography. They moved to Harlem in 1933 and studied art with Augusta Savage. In 1937 Morgan was hired as the first staff photographer for the "New York Amsterdam News," a position he held until 1939. That same year the brothers opened a photo studio, which they called the M. Smith Studio, next door to Harlem's renowned Apollo Theater on 125 Street. The twins photographed such legendary figures as Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington, Eartha Kitt, Pablo Picasso, and Albert Einstein. They took photographs for African-American magazines such as "Color," "Ebony," "Opportunity," and "Life," as well as photographs for print advertisements which appeared in magazines and newspapers.

Call Number

Sc MG 757

OCLC

NYPG06-A102

Author

Morgan and Marvin Smith (Photographers)

Title

Morgan and Marvin Smith papers, 1931-1999.

Biography

Morgan and Marvin Smith, identical twins, were born in 1910 in Kentucky and developed an early interest in art and photography. They moved to Harlem in 1933 and studied art with Augusta Savage. In 1937 Morgan was hired as the first staff photographer for the "New York Amsterdam News," a position he held until 1939. That same year the brothers opened a photo studio, which they called the M. Smith Studio, next door to Harlem's renowned Apollo Theater on 125 Street. The twins photographed such legendary figures as Billie Holliday, Duke Ellington, Eartha Kitt, Pablo Picasso, and Albert Einstein. They took photographs for African-American magazines such as "Color," "Ebony," "Opportunity," and "Life," as well as photographs for print advertisements which appeared in magazines and newspapers.

In 1942 Marvin enlisted in the Navy with the 34th Seabees, and served as Chief Photographer's Mate in the South Pacific. Between 1950-1952 he studied art in Paris with Ferdinand Leger. While Marvin was in the Navy, Morgan set up a photography studio in New York and experimented with sound recordings in the studio. By 1954 both brothers were working in the television and film industry, Morgan working for ABC and Marvin for NBC. They closed the studio in 1968, retired from their television positions in 1974, and in their seventies resumed an interest in needlework crafts. Interest in their photographs was sparked in the 1980's with exhibitions of their work, a book and a documentary film. Morgan died at age 83 in 1993, and Marvin passed away ten years later.

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Finding Aid

Research Call Number

Sc MG 757