Research Catalog

Morgan and Marvin Smith collection

Title: Morgan and Marvin Smith collection [graphic].
Author: M. Smith (New York, N.Y.)
Publication: 1933-1968.

Available Online

NYPL Digital Collections

Details

Additional Authors

Description

<2387> items (4.4 cubic ft., 20 boxes); 26 x 21 cm. and smaller.
<1032> photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ;
<712> photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ;
<26> photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ;
<1> photographic print : col. ;
<575> negatives : b&w ;
<41> transparencies : col. ;

Summary

The collection primarily documents people, places and events in Harlem from the early 1930s to the mid-1950s.

Subjects

Genre/Form

Portrait photographs – 1930-1969.
Group portraits – 1930-1959.
Gelatin silver prints – 1930-1999.
Transparencies – 1930-1959.
Negatives – 1930-1949.

Note

Title devised by cataloger.
Many photographs bear photographers' handstamp on verso, and/or blind stamp on recto; some images bear photographer's name either printed or handwritten on recto. Many items bear handwritten notations on verso, some items captioned by Morgan Smith; some items bear typewritten captions. Some items have cropping or retouching marks; some items are duplicates.

Terms of Use (note)

Restricted; permission of copyright holder is required for duplication. Other rights restrictions may apply. Photocopying of original items is not permitted.

Biography (note)

Morgan and Marvin Smith, Harlem photographers and artists, were born in Nicholasville, Kentucky, in 1910.

Indexes/Finding Aids (note)

Finding aid; folder level control.

Publications (note)

Harlem : the vision of Morgan and Marvin Smith. Lexington, Ky. : University Press of Kentucky, 1997.

Call Number

Sc Photo Morgan and Marvin Smith Collection

OCLC

NYPG94-F31

Author

M. Smith (New York, N.Y.)

Title

Morgan and Marvin Smith collection [graphic].

Imprint

1933-1968.

Terms Of Use

Restricted; permission of copyright holder is required for duplication. Other rights restrictions may apply. Photocopying of original items is not permitted.

Biography

Morgan and Marvin Smith, Harlem photographers and artists, were born in Nicholasville, Kentucky, in 1910. In 1933, after a brief period in Cincinnati, they both moved to New York City and found work with the Civil Works Administration (CWA), later called the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Marvin was a successful award-winning painter with the WPA, and Morgan assisted painter Vertis Hayes on the murals for the Harlem Hospital Nurses' Residence. Later, in 1950, Navy veteran Marvin Smith would travel to France, under the G.I. Bill, to study abstract painting with Fernand Léger.

During the 1930s, the Smith brothers began to work as freelance photographers and submitted work to African-American newspapers, including the Pittsburgh Courier, the Baltimore Afro-American and the New York Amsterdam News. In 1939, they opened the M & M Smith Studio at 141 West 125th Street. A year later, they moved the studio to 243 West 125th, next to the Apollo Theatre, where it was frequented by performing artists, writers, historians, and other Harlem community members. Their work captured the Harlem nightclub scene, social and political events, street scenes, and the activities of Harlem residents. During the 1950s, both Smith brothers began working in the motion picture and television industries, Morgan as a sound technician, Marvin as a set designer, until their retirement in 1975. Although photography was no longer their primary source of income, they kept their studio open until 1968. Morgan Smith died in Harlem in 1993; Marvin Smith died in Harlem in 2003.

Indexes

Finding aid; folder level control.

Publications

Harlem : the vision of Morgan and Marvin Smith. Lexington, Ky. : University Press of Kentucky, 1997.

Local Note

Negatives exist for some images.

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NYPL Digital Collections

Added Author

O'Higgins, Myron. Photographer

M. Smith (New York, N.Y.)

Research Call Number

Sc Photo Morgan and Marvin Smith Collection

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