Community

Smith Center Gallery

Through unforeseen challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, brutality and injustice, we continue to find community. Creativity is central to our efforts to connect with collaborators and visitors.

James Fairfax: Combat Artist

James Fairfax is a former Marine Master Sergeant and an accomplished fine artist, graphic designer,and model maker. He served as Combat Artist in Vietnam from December 1968 to February 1970. His artistic practice represents an important confluence of creativity and historical documentation.

We met Mr. Fairfax when he attended a Community Curation public program at NMAAHC. The Smith Center's preservation field work is enriched by learning from the experiences of community members who utilize varied methods to keep memory and make meaning. View a segment of our interview with Mr. Fairfax, as well a selection of his paintings, below:

See more from our interview with James Fairfax:

Black Liberation and the Vietnam War

 

Documenting the Movement

Smith Center Photographer Leah L. Jones has been documenting moments in history from behind the lens.

Below are some of the images of protest and resilience she captured on the ground in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Washington, D.C.

Black street sign attached to pole that reads Black Lives Matter in white text
Black Lives Matter Plaza, Washington, D.C.
Image of a clenched black fist surrounded by grass and clouds drawn on plywood surrounded by bricks
#BlackLivesMatter, Chicago, IL
Image of writing in black and green letters that reads "Silence benefits the oppressor"
Silence benefits the Oppressor, Milwaukee, WI
Crowd of Protestor's with kneeling on public street
Protestors kneeling, Washington, D.C.
Mural of black woman in a black dress holding leaning scales in left hand and Black Lives Matter sign in right hand drawn on plywood
Lady Justice, Chicago, IL
Mural of George Floyd
George Floyd Mural, Milwaukee, WI
Black man standing in street wearing a Colin Kaepernick jersey
Protestor wearing Colin Kaepernick jersey, Washington, D.C.
Cardboard sign that reads Breonna Taylor Say Her Name taped to black pole
Say Her Name, Chicago, IL
Mural that reads Joy comes in the Mourning in red and yellow text
Mural that reads Joy comes in the mourning, Milwaukee, WI
White text on black sign attached to tiki torch that reads We March for HOPE not for HATE and we won't STOP BLM
Protest sign, Washington, D.C.
Woman standing in front of a mural on side walk Mural has blue background with image of a woman with Afro that reads Black Lives Matter on her afro and speech bubble that reads Stronger Together with raised clenched black fists on right side
Stronger Together, Chicago, IL
Mural of Three hands holding up sign language letters B, L, M
Three hands showing the sign language letters for BLM, Milwaukee, WI
Mural of Breonna Taylor
Mural of Breonna Taylor, Milwaukee, WI

Voices of Resistance and Hope Digital Collecting Initiative
Launched June 2020

Image by Leah L. Jones/NMAAHC

Smith Center Newsletter:
Volume 2 Issue 1

Preview the forthcoming issue of our Smith Center newsletter with photos of our nationwide collaborative projects

 

Community Curation in New Orleans

Visit the link below to view photos from our New Orleans Community Curation.
NOLA Photos

 

Community Archiving Workshop at Saint Paul's College

Two people standing in a room full of historical materials
AJ Lawrence and CK Ming in the archives during a site visit
A person holding a photograph
Teya Whitehead, Secretary of the James Solomon Russell/Saint Paul's College Museum and Archives
A large building with people walking in front of it
Walking the grounds of Saint Paul's College
A building surrounded by tall grass
Stately desolation, photographed by Leah Jones
A building surrounded by tall grass
Saint Paul's College Library
Two people with computers and papers
Sterling Warren and Angela Winand at work
People sitting at a table
Smith Center and JSR|SPC staff members ready for the Community Archiving Workshop
A person pointing to a cassette
CK Ming sharing knowledge about media preservation
Three people standing near a box of documents
Conservator Valinda Carroll, Community Archiving Workshop Organizer Mona Jimenez, and JSR|SPC Museum and Archives Vice Chairman Bobby Conner
A person in front of a projected image on a wall
JSR|SPC Museum and Archives Chairman James Grimstead
Two people at a table working on computers
Blake McDowell at work creating an inventory of media objects
A person speaking to in front of a wall with a projected image
AJ Lawrence presenting information to participants
Three people sitting at a table covered with papers and documents
Volunteers helping to create an inventory
Three people looking at a computer
Media Archives Technician Emily Nabasny working with volunteers
Two people, one standing and one sitting, in conversation
Hannah Scruggs in the midst of collaboration
A computer and a person holding a floppy disk
Building an inventory
A man examining an archival book
Making discoveries
A perosn at a podium
Bobby Conner welcoming participants to the Community Archiving Workshop
A person at a podium wearing a facemask
Dr. Doretha Williams introducing the Smith Center to workshop participants
A person holding up two historic documents
Saint Paul's College history lives on
A large group of people
Community Archiving Workshop participants together for a common goal
A person in a dark space working with imaging equipment
The work continues, Robert F. Smith Intern John W. Cooper III digitizes photos from Scurlock Photography Colletion from JSR|SPC
A person at a computer looking at an image
Robert F. Smith Intern Nateya Taylor digitizing JSR|SPC Scurlock Collection photographs

Building Capacity Through Equipment Gifting

Historic 18th & Vine District - Kansas City, MO
A person speaking
Dr. Carmaletta Williams, Executive Director of the Black Archives of Mid-America in Kansas City, MO
People in a dark room viewing a projected image on a wall
Viewing a recent work
Archival boxes
Archives awaiting research
Shelves of books, two people
Knowledge everywhere you turn
A box of slides
Slides, each frame a world of its own
Protest signs
"On Strike, No Contract, Wake Up Black American"
A photograph of people in a pointed line
Imagine the stories connected to this image
A person looking at a museum exhibition
Nathan Mason touring an exhibition
A person looking at a museum exhibition
Compelling installations at the Black Archives of Mid-America
People around a table
Meeting collaborators at the American Jazz Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate
A person and a shelf full of tapes
Media in the archives
Three people in conversation
Coordinating the work at the American Jazz Museum
A photo of Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
A hand holding a set of dogtags
John Coltrane's dogtags
James E. Lewis Museum of Art at Morgan State University - Baltimore, MD
People in a museum space reading wall text
An apropos exhibition at the James E. Lewis Museum of Art
A person speakig toward the camera
Dr. Schroeder Cherry, Curator of the James E. Lewis Museum of Art
A person speaking in front of a painting
Robin Howard, Associate Director of the Center of Museums and Historical Preservation at Morgan State University
Three people in a room full of artworks
Touring Morgan State University's art collections
A photograph of a group of people
History reaches out to us
Two people speaking in an artwork storage area
Dr. Schroeder Cherry detailing colleciton stewardship
Three people at a table in the midst of discussion
Designing a framework for collaboration
Six people standing in front of a wall with artworks
Smith Center and JELMA-MSU collaborators
Shorefront Legacy - Evanston, IL
A man showing a historic garment
Shorefront Legacy Founder Dino Robinson showing a special collection item
A photograph of well-dressed men in a line on a set of steps
Arrangement and style
A box containing audio media
Legendary House music mixes being preserved at Shorefront
Two people looking into a box of video cassettes
AJ Lawrence and Sterling Warren hunting for visual media
Four people standing in between shelves of archival materials
A wealth of materials in the Shorefront's archives
Four people looking at a paper document in an archival box
Every object tells a story
A historic document in a box
The raw material for future knowledge production
A photo of two people and two small children
1,000 words.
A group of five people
Community in action

Will by Jessie Maple

Jesse Maple's Will

The Smith Center continues to fortify relationships with artists, historians, and collecting institutions across the country, collaborating to digitize and expand access to vulnerable collections related to the African American experience.

Our most recent project is the digitization of pioneering director Jessie Maple’s 1981 film, Will.

Browse selections From The Great Migration Home Movie Project

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