In the gallery, the photographs are a glance again in time to a historic Black expertise in Akron. Stepping by the doorway, viewers are transported again to the eras of the Great Depression and WWII.
The Stewarts captured portraits of historic figures comparable to Akron welterweight boxer Ronald “Ronnie” Delaney, posed in a defense-ready stance, and the Rev. Herbert William McClellon from Mt. Olive Baptist Church pointing up towards heaven and down towards hell.
Rev. Herbert William McClellon was born in Smith County, Tennessee in 1876 and lived in Akron for 51 years. He based Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Akron in 1918 and have become its first pastor. His spouse, Lillian, began Mt. Olive Sunday School. McClellon resigned November 4, 1918 to start out one other church on East North Street in Akron. Rev. McClellon later grew to become pastor of Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church on West North Street, which was organized in 1931. By the time of his demise in 1966, on the age of 90, he had additionally helped set up a number of different church buildings in Akron together with Mt. Lebanon, St. Thomas, and Mt. Sinai Baptist church buildings, in addition to the Central Hope District Association Group of Baptist Churches. (Photo courtesy of The Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photographs at The University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.)
There are household portraits with coordinated outfits, Black socialites at backyard events, commencement photographs within the studio and sports activities groups in baseball uniforms, together with the Green Turtle crew from 1935.
These moments make up what Black life seemed like in Akron, captured from wall to wall within the gallery, surrounding viewers.
Akron native Ronald “Ronnie” Delaney (1930-2020) began boxing within the beginner packages when he was 15 and turned professional three years later. He earned a 63-3 3 file from 1948 till his retirement in 1957, though he returned for 4 fights from 1964-1966. He fought nationally at Madison Square Garden and upset champion Johnny Saxton in 1955 in a non-title bout. He educated different boxers on the Good Shepherd Boxing Club and, after retirement, labored at a financial institution and was self-employed. He died in 2020 on the age of 90. (Photo courtesy of The Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photographs at The University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.)
“There’s really been a push in the archives profession, in museums, cultural heritage organizations, to try to present a different side of history, to present things that weren’t always covered,” stated Victor Fleischer, University of Akron archivist and head of Archives and Special Collections. “You know, things from marginalized, underrepresented communities, or African American community, women’s history, LGBTQ+ history.”
A vibrant North Howard Street studio
During their time in Akron, the couple created principally studio portraits but in addition captured the historical past taking place within the streets. Evelyn Stewart described North Howard Street as “deteriorated” in a 1973 Akron Beacon Journal article, “Will Historic, Rundown N. Howard Recover?.” (The article was referenced within the Green Book Cleveland project.)
The Stewarts photographed quite a few beginner and semi-professional sports activities groups, together with the Green Turtle Baseball Team, seen right here. The first point out of the Green Turtle Baseball Team is in 1916. The exact same 12 months, Leonard H. Foreman and Raleigh Prince opened a saloon on Furnace Street that later grew to become the Green Turtle Hotel and Café. It was a well-liked vacation spot for Akron’s Black neighborhood because it hosted quite a few occasions, together with an enormous luncheon in 1938 that featured many outstanding native political figures.(Photo courtesy of The Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photographs at The University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.)
The avenue began to see fewer white enterprise homeowners and extra Black renters. It was reported as “rundown” and there was crime within the space, however the Stewarts seemed past this. Their pictures studio was flourishing and created most of the photographs within the gallery at the moment.
“I think it’s preserving the history of the African American community,” stated Dr. Sheldon Wrice, particular assistant to the provost on the college. “That was the purpose of what was even developed, was created.”
Fleischer hopes to exhibit one other gallery present with extra digitized photographs from the 1000’s being saved online in digital archives and uncovered — and shared — by others who have been photographed by the Stewarts in previous many years.
With funding from The Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives: Amplifying Unheard Voices grant, the college launched the digitization course of for the photographs. Out of just about 7,000 pictures from the last decade featured within the gallery, curatorial gallery workers chosen “unique” and “historically significant” photographs to show.
Jessica Kirk (née Brazil) was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Mathew Brazil. She graduated from West High School in Akron and obtained one of many first Knight Memorial Educational Fund Scholarships established by Akron Beacon Journal editor John S. Knight in 1940 for Blacks to attend faculty. Brazil majored in music at Wilberforce University, obtained a voice scholarship to New York City, and attended the Cleveland Institute of Music in 1940. While learning there, she sang at a reception for singer Marian Anderson. Brazil served as soloist, choir director, and pianist at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Akron. She achieved fame in Broadway’s Carmen Jones as Frankie and was added to the University of Michigan’s “Collection of Black Artists” in 1973 for the position. She additionally recorded for Decca and appeared on the NBC Radio Hall of Fame. (Photo courtesy of The Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photographs at The University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.)
If you go
The gallery is open from 9 a.m. to midday from Nov. 11 to Dec. 9. More gallery viewing hours can be found by appointment. The Dr. Shirla R. McClain Gallery of Akron Black History and Culture is at 220 Wolf Ledges Pkwy.
The Howard Street neighborhood in Akron was known as “Little Harlem.” Every few years, an honorary mayor of Harlem was elected. In 1941, the 12 months this {photograph} was taken, Charles “Buddy” Morton, a sports activities fanatic and socialite, was elected the “Mayor of Harlem.” He later served as proprietor and supervisor of the Dunbar Restaurant in Mansfield, Ohio, a well-liked location for socialites. (Photo courtesy of The Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photographs at The University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.)Some of probably the most charming pictures taken by Horace and Evelyn Stewart have been footage of kids. Many of their photographs depict kids in costumes, together with this lovable picture of a Mrs. Robinson’s boy dressed as a cowboy. During World War II, the Stewarts additionally photographed kids dressed as troopers and sailors as a part of Soldier Day, the place kids discovered extra about what life was like within the army. (Photo courtesy of The Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photographs at The University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.)This picture by the Stewarts depicts a personal within the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) throughout World War II. The WAC was the ladies’s department of the United States Army. It was established in 1942 to provide girls official army standing in noncombat roles comparable to secretaries, photographers, and cartographers. The WAC was segregated, with the 6888th Central Post Directory Battalion being the one Black and Latina WAC unit to serve abroad. After the battle, the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, which was handed in 1948, enabled girls to completely develop into members of the Army. The WAC was disbanded when President Jimmy Carter signed Public Law 95-485 in 1978, integrating girls into the Army. (Photo courtesy of The Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photographs at The University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.)This picture exhibits musicians performing on the Musical Bar, which was positioned on the intersection of South Main and South Howard streets in Akron. Local jazz legend Jimmy Adcock typically performed right here, and Ray Charles and Jackie Wilson are additionally rumored to have carried out right here. The membership additionally sponsored an all-Black, Class A softball crew that received many metropolis and regional championships. Later, within the Fifties, the institution was bought by Joe Gould of Cleveland and was a burlesque membership. It was gutted by fireplace in 1958. (Photo courtesy of The Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photographs at The University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.)The Stewarts captured many scenes of women and men stateside throughout World War II, together with this picture of Black nurses handing out Clark sweet bars to new African American recruits from Akron. Clark bars have been a part of a soldier’s day-to-day life, with 1.5 million Clark bars despatched abroad day by day. They have been so necessary that when labor strikes led to manufacturing shortages, the federal authorities stepped in, deeming the sweet an “essential.” Known as the primary American “combination” sweet bar to attain nationwide success, the Clark bar was first launched in 1917 to be despatched to troops serving abroad throughout World War I and was well-liked throughout and after each world wars. (Photo courtesy of The Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photographs at The University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.)Garden events have been very fashionable social occasions for each white and Black society in the course of the twentieth century. Most have been held by social, cultural, fraternal, and spiritual organizations and sometimes featured meals, drinks, video games and prizes. Daisy L. Strawbridge (pictured right here, standing) was the recording secretary for the Daughter Elks, the place she obtained the diploma of Past Daughter Ruler, in addition to a member of the Narcissus, a social membership. She graduated from the Knox Institute of Athens, Georgia. She was married to Dr. Fred H. Strawbridge, who had an workplace on North Howard Street. He was the Exalted Ruler of Delta Lodge 149 of the Improved and Benevolent Protective Order of Elks of the World (IBPOEW) and an officer of the Frontiers Club. (Photo courtesy of The Horace and Evelyn Stewart Photographs at The University of Akron Archives and Special Collections.)