Harlem
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In 1933, Morgan and Marvin Smith, twin sons of sharecroppers from central Kentucky, arrived in Harlem, the center of black cultural life in America.
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For thirty years, the Smiths used their cameras to record the achievements of blacks in the face of poverty and discrimination.
Rejecting the focus on misery and hopelessness common to Harlem photographers of the time, they documented important "firsts" for the city's blacks (for example, the first black policeman, the first black woman juror), the significant social movements of their day (anti-lynching protests, rent strikes, and early civil rights rallies), as well as the everyday life of Harlem, from churchgoers dressed for Easter to children playing in the street.
Drawn from the collection of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Smith family archives, Harlem reproduces nearly 150 photographs by these important artists and chroniclers.
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