30 Days of Black American Printmaker History

This research is part of a lifelong commitment to learning about underrepresented printmakers & listening to voices of color within our craft. Throughout the course of developing this reference list, priority has been given to seeking primary sources (if available) in addition to publications by Black authors, artists, collectors, curators, and scholars. Please use these resources as needed to educate yourself, enhance educational environments, and understand why anti-racism must be practiced on a daily basis and classrooms must be decolonized.

For those without an institutional JSTOR account, you can create a profile and read 100 free articles annually.

SSRN is another excellent resource. It is more limited than JSTOR, but it is free to search and read PDFs. (“SSRN´s eLibrary provides 947,686 research papers from 498,760 researchers in more than 50 disciplines.”) (https://www.ssrn.com/index.cfm/en/)

William Henry Johnson (1901-1970)

• Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson by Richard J. Powell (ISBN: 0847814211)

• William H. Johnson: An American Modern by Richard J. Powell and Leslie King-Hammond. Edited by Teresa G. Gionis. (ISBN: 0295991488)
•  Richard J. Powell, “‘In My Family of Primitiveness and Tradition’: William H. Johnson's ‘Jesus and the Three Marys,’”American Art, v.5, n.4 (Autumn, 1991), 21.
• BlackPast: William Henry Johnson (1901-1970) (https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/johnson-william-henry-1901-1970/)
• Philadelphia Museum of Art: About William H. Johnson (https://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/239.html?page=2)
• Smithsonian American Art Museum: William H. Johnson (https://americanart.si.edu/artist/william-h-johnson-2486)
• MoMA: William H. Johnson (https://www.moma.org/collection/works/82639)
• Pochoir: Technique and Conservation (https://sflac.net/uncategorized/pochoir-technique-and-conservation/)

Percy Martin (b. 1943)

• An Interview with Percy Martin by Charles H. Rowell (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2932159?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3Aeacbdd0e749f27af88fad30aeac6953c&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents)
• A Tribute to Percy Martin by Ed Crow (https://www.sidwell.edu/retired-former-employees/tributes/~board/news-tributes/post/a-tribute-to-percy-martin)
• Dream Weaver by Sacha Zimmerman (https://www.sidwell.edu/alumni/magazine/magazine-detail/~board/magazine/post/dream-weaver)
• Percy Martin, Myth Maker by Michael Kernan (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1989/05/17/percy-martin-myth-maker/33df4913-206f-4be6-b1af-39b19da683b4/)

Vivian E. Browne (1929-1993)

• Oral History Interview with Vivian Browne (https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-vivian-browne-11453#transcript)

• The Crows Nest Gallery and Studio: Home of the archived works of Vivian E. Browne, Ken Hackman and Vida Ratzlaff-Hackman (http://www.thecrowsneststudio.com/)
• Talking to Vivian Browne by Leo Hamalian (https://www.jstor.org/stable/2904481?origin=crossref&seq=1)

Eldzier Cortor (1916-2015)

• Eldzier Cortor by Terry Carbone (Part of The Oral History Project Series for BOMB Magazine) (https://bombmagazine.org/articles/eldzier-cortor/)

• BOMB Magazine’s Oral History Project Series (https://bombmagazine.org/series/oral-history/)
• Eldzier Cortor from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (https://americanart.si.edu/artist/eldzier-cortor-1000)

• Honored in February with a Chicago Homecoming, Artist Eldzier Cortor Has Died at Age 99 by Victoria L. Valentine for CultureType (https://www.culturetype.com/2015/11/28/honored-in-february-with-a-chicago-homecoming-artist-eldzier-cortor-has-died-at-age-99/)

James Lesesne Wells (1902-1993)

• Oral history interview with James Lesesne Wells, 1989 November 16 for the Smithsonian Archives of American Art (https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-james-lesesne-wells-11464#transcript)

• James Lesesne Wells from the Petrucci Family Foundation (https://pffcollection.com/artists/james-lesesne-wells/)
• The Prints of James Lesesne Wells from Black Artists in the Museum (https://black-artists-in-the-museum.com/2017/11/07/the-prints-of-james-lesesne-wells/)

The Black Panther & Emory Douglas

• Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas by Emory Douglas (ISBN: 0847829448)
• Emory Douglas: The Art of the Black Panthers (Mini Doc by Dress Code) (http://dresscodeny.com/work/emory-douglas-art-of-the-black-panthers/)
• This Just In: Emory Douglas & The Black Panther from Letterform Archive (https://letterformarchive.org/news/emory-douglas-and-the-black-panther)
• Black Panther Party Community News Service from the Freedom Archives (https://search.freedomarchives.org/search.php?view_collection=90&page=1)
• Designing the Black Panthers by Meg Miller for Fast Company (https://www.fastcompany.com/3062510/designing-the-black-panthers)

Ellen Gallagher (b. 1965)

• Ellen Gallagher Interview for Art21 (https://art21.org/read/ellen-gallagher-exelento-and-deluxe/)

• Sniffing Elephant Bones: The Poetics of Race in the Art of Ellen Gallagher by Judith Wilson (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3299181?mag=using-text-and-images-to-question-race&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents)

• Ellen Gallagher for MoMA (https://www.moma.org/collection/works/93924)
• Ellen Gallagher: Nu Nile at Capri (https://capri-raum.com/exhibitions/ellen-gallagher)
• Painting Beyond Painting: Ellen Gallagher (VIDEO) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb3o3QYSXtU)
• Ellen Gallagher for ArtNet (http://www.artnet.com/artists/ellen-gallagher/biography)
• ‘DeLuxe’, Ellen Gallagher at Tate Modern (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gallagher-deluxe-t12301)

Charles White (1918-1979)

• Oral History Interview with Charles White (https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-charles-w-white-11484#transcript)

• Artist Charles White Was a Devoted Teacher Who Served as a ‘Life Model’ to Countless Students in Los Angeles and Beyond by Victoria L. Valentine for CultureType (https://www.culturetype.com/2019/09/14/artist-charles-white-was-a-devoted-teacher-who-served-as-a-life-model-to-countless-students-in-los-angeles-and-beyond/)

• Charles White for the Hammer Museum (https://hammer.ucla.edu/now-dig-this/artists/charles-white)
• Charles White for the National Gallery of Art (https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.3394.html#:~:text=The%20African%20American%20painter%2C%20printmaker,League%20in%20New%20York%20City.&text=White%20spent%20most%20of%20his,He%20died%20in%201979.)

Ernest Crichlow (1914-2005)

• Oral History Interview with Ernest Crichlow, 1968 (https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-ernest-crichlow-11459#transcript)
• Lovers, 1938 (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/491329)
• Ernest Crichlow by the Petrucci Family Foundation (https://pffcollection.com/artists/ernest-crichlow/)

Hale Woodruff (1900-1980)

• Oral History Interview with Hale Woodruff, 1968 (https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-hale-woodruff-11463#transcript)
• Hale Woodruff from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (https://americanart.si.edu/artist/hale-woodruff-5477)

• With Powerful Murals, Hale Woodruff Paved The Way For African-American Artists (NPR) (https://www.npr.org/2015/12/19/459251265/with-powerful-murals-hale-woodruff-paved-the-way-for-african-american-artists)

• Hale Woodruff from the Johnson Collection (http://thejohnsoncollection.org/hale-woodruff/)

Hilda Wilkinson Brown (1894-1981)

• Reflections on LeDroit Park: Hilda Wilkinson Brown and Her Neighborhood by Lilian Thomas Burwell (https://www.jstor.org/stable/40073040?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3A25b5f92b5a8bdfeab97313c32bc3214d&seq=4#page_scan_tab_contents)

• Kindred Spirits (Film) (http://kindredspiritsfilm.com/)
• Oak Bluffs at the Art Institute of Chicago (https://www.artic.edu/artworks/147069/oak-bluffs)

Charles Criner (b. 1945)

• Charles Criner, b. 1945; Houston Reflections: Art in the City, 1950s, 60s and 70s (Interview with Charles Criner by Sarah Reynolds in 2006)(https://cnx.org/contents/eFQIsJEO@2.1:gfhrqxLo@1/Charles-Criner-b-1945)
• Artists At Work: Charles Criner (Part 1) from IMAS in Allen, TX (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsQPuSP8G7k)
• Artists At Work: Charles Criner (Part 2) from IMAS in Allen, TX (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOfIJnAybn0)
• Charles Criner’s Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/pg/CharlesCrinerArt)
• Artist specializes in lithography by Flori Meeks for the Houston Chronicle (https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/cyfair-news/article/Artist-specializes-in-lithography-1747482.php)
• Where I Come From: The Works and Influences of Charles Criner at the Printing Museum (https://printingmuseum.org/exhibition/where-i-come-from/)
• Charles Criner for Foltz Fine Art (https://foltzgallery.com/artist/charles-criner)

I AM A MAN: Iconic Typography & The Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike

• How iconic typographic picket signs became our eternal cry for justice for Typeroom (https://www.typeroom.eu/article/how-iconic-typographic-picket-signs-became-our-eternal-cry-justice)

• 1968 Memphis Sanitation Strike with Historian Ryan Jones (Video)(https://www.c-span.org/video/?454467-1/1968-memphis-sanitation-strike#)
• A Time of Crisis: The Sanitation Strike from Facing History and Ourselves (https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/memphis-1968/time-crisis-sanitation-strike)
• The Strike That Brought MLK to Memphis (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/revisiting-sanitation-workers-strike-180967512/)

William Pajaud (1925-2015)

• William E. Pajaud’s papers, 1957-1996 at the Amistad Research Center (http://amistadresearchcenter.tulane.edu/archon/?p=collections/controlcard&id=283)
• Artist William Pajaud’s Jazzy New Orleans (NPR)(https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5125966)
• William Pajaud - Teaser Trailer (YouTube)(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hmq2fB-7xs)

• William Pajaud dies at 89; watercolorist amassed prominent collection of African American art by David Colker (LA Times) (https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-william-pajaud-20150627-story.html)

Raymond Steth (1917-1997)

• Oral History Interview with Raymond Steth 1990 (https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-raymond-steth-11475)

• A Selection of Works by African American Artists in the Philadelphia Museum of Art from the Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin, 1995 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/3795505?read-now=1&refreqid=excelsior%3A5237dc24b94f0c512450953d6fb8a5d9&seq=12#page_scan_tab_contents)

• Black Printmakers and the WPA by Leslie King-Hammond (https://tmg-web.lehman.edu/vpadvance/artgallery/gallery/wpa/essay1.htm)

Elizabeth Catlett & The Taller de Gráfica Popular (TGP)

• Elizabeth Catlett: An American Artist in Mexico by Melanie Anne Herzog
• Elizabeth Catlett: In The Image of the People by Melanie Anne Herzog (An excerpt can be found here: http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/6aa/6aa198a.htm)
• Life with Artist Francisco Mora by Naima Mora (Elizabeth & Francisco’s granddaughter)(https://www.elizabethcatlettart.com/life-with-artist-francisco-mora)
• Gráfica Popular from LACMA (https://collections.lacma.org/node/580931)

Claude Clark (1915-2001)

• Claude Clark - Artist Statement (From Claude in 1989) (https://www.claudeclark.com/about.html#Statement)
• A Black Teacher’s Guide to a Black Visual Art Curriculum by Claude Clark (PDF)(https://www.claudeclark.com/Cirrculum%20-%20A%20Black%20Perspective.pdf)
• “First think and then act”: Aspects of the Life of Claude Clark by Steven L. Jones for Black Art In America (https://www.blackartinamerica.com/index.php/2018/06/12/before-art-and-social-activist-was-a-cute-hashtag-this-history-maker-stood-up-to-the-klan-and-jim-crow-laws-artist-claude-clark-is-someone-you-should-know/)
• Claude Clark (1915-2001) by Eloise Johnson, PhD (http://www.claudeclark.org/Claude_Clark/biography.html)
• Claude Clark from the Petrucci Family Foundation (https://pffcollection.com/artists/claude-clark/)

Allan Randall Freelon (1895-1960)

• A Conversation with the Family of Allan Randall Freelon (We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s) (https://issuu.com/woodmereartmuseum/docs/wam_we-speak-catalogue_/69)

• Allan Freelon from the Illinois Historical Art Project (Web Gallery)(https://www.illinoisart.org/alan-freelon)
• Allan Randall Freelon Sr. Born from the African American Registry (https://aaregistry.org/story/impressionist-allan-freelon-sr-born/)
• Two Men, One Vision by Edward Gunts for the Baltimore Sun (https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-2005-06-05-0506070329-story.html)
• Allan Freelon at the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery (https://www.michaelrosenfeldart.com/artists/allan-freelon-1895-1960)

William “Skinny” E. Smith (1913-1997) & Karamu House

• Karamu House: History (https://karamuhouse.org/about/history)
• William E. Smith from the Melvin Holmes Collection of African American Art (https://www.holmesartgallery.com/williamsmith)
• An Interview with Melvin Holmes (https://www.holmesartgallery.com/about)
• The Black Artist Safe Space (http://pressurelife.com/the-black-artist-safe-space/)
• William E. Smith on ArtNet (http://www.artnet.com/artists/william-e-smith/)

Kay Brown (1932-2012) & “Where We At” Black Women Artists, Inc. (WWA) (1960s - 1970s)

• The Emergence of Black Women Artists: The Founding of “Where We At” by Kay Brown (PDF)
• Abundant Evidence: Black Women Artists of the 1960s and 70s by Valerie Smith (https://www.amherst.edu/system/files/media/0115/Butler_Abundant_Evidence_Black_Women_Art.PDF)

• Exhibition Spotlight: Dindga McCannon and “Where We At” Black Women Artists in We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85 (https://www.albrightknox.org/blog/exhibition-spotlight-dindga-mccannon-and-%E2%80%9Cwhere-we-%E2%80%9D-black-women-artists-we-wanted-revolution)

• We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85 from the Brooklyn Museum (https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/exhibitions/3347)
• Where We At via Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_We_At)

Ron Adams (b. 1934)

• Ron Adams via The HistoryMakers (https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/ron-adams-41)
• Ron Adams via Lawrence Litho (http://www.lawrencelitho.com/artists/ron-adams/#tab-id-2)
• Ron Adams for the Smithsonian (https://americanart.si.edu/artist/ron-adams-6599)

Mildred Thompson (1936-2003)

AfriCOBRA & the Printed Image

• Interview with Barbara Jones-Hogu (2010) (https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/items/detail/interview-barbara-joneshogu-22053#transcript)
• Barbara Jones-Hogu via Never The Same (https://never-the-same.org/interviews/barbara-jones-hogu/)

Dindga McCannon (b. 1947)