Charles “Teenie” Harris Photographs: Civil Rights Perspectives commemorates a historic moment in the long struggle for civil rights and equality in the United States. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the extension of the Voting Rights Act in 1965 are still landmark events 50 years after their passage by Congress.
The emphasis of every Charles “Teenie” Harris Archive exhibition is the work of the artist himself: Pittsburgh photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris (1908–1998), who documented Pittsburgh’s African American community from the 1930s to 1970s. He is represented here by 25 images pertaining to Pittsburgh’s civil rights movement from this period. His careful documentation of the community’s activism attests to his sympathy for the cause and his deep understanding of its importance to the city. We believe that thousands of his photographs are dedicated to this topic, and this exhibition is the first paragraph of a much larger story.
The subtitle “Civil Rights Perspectives” signals that other viewpoints are presented along with Harris’s. In particular, we are grateful to Alma Speed Fox, a veteran of the Pittsburgh movement, and K. Chase Patterson, representing a new generation of activists, for serving as guest curators. They selected the works for the exhibition and share their insights into their meaning at the time and their significance for the present. Thanks also to archive specialist Charlene Foggie-Barnett for providing the film, taken by her father, former Pittsburgh branch NAACP president Bishop Charles Foggie, which documents Pittsburghers’ participation in the historic 1963 March on Washington. Finally, the extraordinary photograph of Charles “Teenie” Harris behind the police line during the 1968 Pittsburgh riots was taken by news photographer Bud Harris (1934–2009), offering yet another perspective on a complex story.
Our understanding of Charles “Teenie” Harris’s photographs is the result of contributions from the Pittsburgh community, including many of its civil rights leaders, who have identified subjects and events and explained their significance. We would like to acknowledge the ongoing assistance of George Barbour, John Brewer, Hubert Ivey, Marilyn Ware Parker, Ralph Proctor, Rev. Jimmy Joe Robinson, Tim Stevens, Sala Udin, and the Harris family.
