The Malcolm X collection: photographs

id
11541
origination
X, Malcolm, 1925-1965
date statement
1950s-1964
key date
1950
identifier (local_mss)
532888
org unit
Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
call number
Sc Photo The Malcolm X Collection
b-number
b16445979
total components
226
total series
0
max depth
4
boost queries
(none)
component layout
Default Layout
Extended MARC Fields
false
Extended Navigation
false
created
2022-09-26 18:07:19 UTC
updated
2024-02-28 02:00:48 UTC
status note
(missing)
Display Aeon link
true

Description data TOP

unitid
{"value"=>"532888", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc Photo The Malcolm X Collection", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b16445979", "type"=>"local_b"}
unitdate
{"value"=>"1950s-1964", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1950/1964"}
unittitle
{"value"=>"The Malcolm X collection: photographs"}
physdesc
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"23 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"6.12 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"2168 photographic prints", "unit"=>"photographic_prints"}, {"name"=>"physfacet", "value"=>"gelatin silver, b&w"}, {"name"=>"dimensions", "value"=>"26 x 21 cm. and smaller"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"127 photographic prints", "unit"=>"photographic_prints"}, {"name"=>"physfacet", "value"=>"color"}, {"name"=>"dimensions", "value"=>"13 x 18 cm. and smaller"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"799 photographic slides", "unit"=>"photographic_slides"}, {"name"=>"physfacet", "value"=>"color"}, {"name"=>"dimensions", "value"=>"5 x 5 cm."}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"692 photographs", "unit"=>"photographs"}, {"name"=>"physfacet", "value"=>"negative"}]}
repository
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division</span>"}
langmaterial
{"value"=>"English"}
origination
{"value"=>"X, Malcolm, 1925-1965", "type"=>"persname"}
bioghist
{"value"=>"<p>Chronology originally published in finding aid for the Malcolm X Collection: Papers, by Andre Elizee et al., 2004</p> <ul class=\"chronlist\"> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1925</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Malcolm X is born Malcolm Little in Omaha, Nebraska.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1947</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Joins the Nation of Islam while serving an 8 to 10 year prison sentence in Massachusetts jails on charges of grand larceny and breaking and entering.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1952</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Released on parole; travels to Detroit, where he works for a time as a furniture salesman and at the Ford Motor Company.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1953</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Moves to Chicago and studies for the Nation of Islam ministry under Elijah Muhammad's guidance. A declassified FBI memorandum notes that he became the subject of a security investigation and of a Communist Card Index.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1954</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Becomes Minister of Muhammad's Temple of Islam in Harlem. Is instrumental over the next several years in building the Nation of Islam into a mass organization. A November 10 FBI report notes that \"Subject is single and travels a lot\" between Chicago, Detroit, Washington, DC, and Philadelphia.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1957</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Police beating of NOI member Hinton Johnson in New York. Gains notoriety for his deployment of a disciplined contingent of Black Muslims in front of the Harlem police precinct where the victim was detained.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1958</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Marries Betty X Saunders.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1959</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Television documentary \"The Hate That Hate Produced\" is aired, propelling the organization into the national limelight. Travels to the Middle East, West Africa and the Sudan, to lay the groundwork for Elijah Muhammad's Middle East tour later that year.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1960</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Family moves to East Elmhurst, Queens. Lectures on college campuses, speaks at Unity Rally in Harlem, debates Bayard Rustin on the radio. Meets with Fidel Castro at the Theresa Hotel in Harlem. Launches Muhammad Speaks newspaper in New York.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1961</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">As National Representative of Elijah Muhammad, travels to California and later to the Deep South. Lectures at Brown, Harvard and Howard Universities. Debates National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Secretary at Yale University. Leads protest march in front of the United Nations following assassination of Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Substitutes for Elijah Muhammad in weekly radio broadcast, \"Muhammad Speaks. \"</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1962</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Debates Bayard Rustin and other civil rights personalities on \"Integration vs. Separation\". Returns to West Coast to lead NOI response in the police killing of L. A. Mosque Secretary Ronald Stokes. Assumes leadership of Philadelphia Mosque. Cancels all his college and university appearances in the fall on orders from Elijah Muhammad. Travels to Buffalo and Rochester, NY, to lead in legal defense of Muslim inmates denied the right to practice their faith, and to organize against police brutality.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1963</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Leads Black Muslim demonstration in Times Square. Speaks at Harlem rally with Dick Gregory and Adam Clayton Powell in support of civil rights struggle in Mississippi. Serves as Interim Minister of Washington, DC Mosque. Begins work on Autobiography with Alex Haley. Denounces the March on Washington as a farce. Delivers speeches \"The Black Revolution\" and \"Message to the Grassroots\". Suspended and silenced for \"Chicken Coming Home to Roost\" remark, following President Kennedy's assassination.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1964</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Vacations in Miami with his family on invitation from Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali). Officially leaves Nation of Islam, citing pressures from \"officials\" within the organization. Files certificate of incorporation for the Muslim Mosque, Inc. Delivers speech \"The Ballot or the Bullet\". Leaves on a six-week trip to the Middle East and Africa. Launches the Organization of Afro-American Unity. Leaves on a four-month trip to the Middle East and Africa. Addresses meetings in Paris and London. Speaks at rally in Harlem in support of Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.</span></div></li> <li class=\"chronitem\"> <span class=\"date\">1965</span> <div class=\"eventgrp\"> <span class=\"event\">Speaks at several OAAU rallies in Harlem. Flies to Los Angeles in late January to meet with two former secretaries filing paternity suits against Elijah Muhammad. Travels to Selma, Alabama, on February 4, and the next day to London. East Elmherst home firebombed in the early morning of February 14. Flies the same day to Detroit where he gives his last major speech at a public rally. Addresses an OAAU rally at the Audubon Ballroom on February 15 and is evicted from his Queens home the next day. Gunned down at the Audubon Ballroom on February 21 while addressing an OAAU rally.</span></div></li></ul>", "supress_display"=>true}
custodhist
{"value"=>"<p>The photographs form part of the Malcolm X collection, stored initially in the Shabazz family home in Mount Vernon and later sold at a storage auction in Miami. The Shabazz family regained control of the collection after cancellation of the public auction by Butterfields Auctioneers in Los Angeles, and in 2002 deposited the collection at the Library for a period of 75 years.</p>"}
scopecontent
{"value"=>"<p>The collection (1950s to mid-1960s) consists of personal photographs of Malcolm X and family, documents many of Malcolm X's activities with the Nation of Islam, and also documents some of the activities of the Nation of Islam, from the 1950s to the mid-1960s. Because of Malcolm X's multiple roles as the national spokesman for the Nation of Islam and minister of several mosques, mainly Muhammad's Mosque No. 7 (Harlem, New York), he is depicted throughout all three series. The collection does not document Malcolm X's activities after he left the Nation of Islam.</p> <p>The Shabazz Family series consists of personal photographs of the Shabazz family; some members of the Little family; friends and associates; and views of travel. The series includes snapshot portraits of Malcolm X and his wife, Betty Shabazz, together, and with their children (1964); individual and group portraits of daughters Attallah, Qubilah and Ilyasah, at home (ca. 1960-1964); candid portraits of Malcolm X carrying his daughter Ilyasah (1964); candid portraits of Malcolm X and his family visiting boxer Muhammad Ali at his Florida training camp (1964), that include views of Ali with friends and fans; two candid shots of Malcolm X in Africa (ca. 1964); and portraits of African-American expatriates and visitors, and views of crowds, possibly photographed by Malcolm X during his visits to various African countries, particularly Nigeria and Ghana (ca. 1964).</p> <p>The Malcolm X Activities series depicts many of his activities as national spokesman for the Nation of Islam and minister of Muhammad's Mosque No. 7 (Harlem, New York), from the mid-1950s to 1964. Malcolm X's post-Nation of Islam activities are not depicted in the photograph collection. The series includes portraits of Minister Malcolm X; views of Minister Malcolm X addressing Muslim rallies, mainly in Harlem; as a speaker and participant at several college and university sponsored debates and lectures; at various radio and television appearances; speaking at church gatherings; and meeting with other individuals, including fellow Muslims. Of note are views of Minister Malcolm X addressing various Muslim rallies held mostly in front of Lewis Michaux's National Memorial African Bookstore in Harlem (ca. 1960-1963); during a debate at Howard University, Washington, D.C., which includes Howard president James M. Nabrit and activist Bayard Rustin (ca. 1961); and before and during a WMCA radio debate on \"The Barry Gray Show,\" which includes activist James Farmer and actor Ossie Davis, in New York (1962). Among those depicted with Malcolm X are politicians J. Raymond Jones and Percy Sutton, ministers Louis X (Farrakhan), Eugene Bullock and David Licorish, attorney Paul Zuber, activists Anna Arnold Hedgeman and Lewis Michaux, author James Baldwin, musician Babatunde Olatunji, and journalists George Schuyler and Gabe Pressman.</p> <p>The Nation of Islam series depicts some of the organization's ministers and other officials, activities, and events, from the 1950s to the early 1960s. The series consists of formal and candid portraits of Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad, his family, and members of the organization; views of Muslim mass rallies; activities and views of various mosques and Muslim-owned businesses in different cities, which are also depicted in a collection of color slides; and portraits of the key individuals and views of the activities surrounding some legal cases involving Nation of Islam members. Included are formal and candid portraits of Elijah Muhammad (ca. 1950s-1960s); Elijah Muhammad at his first press conference (n.d.) and addressing Muslim mass rallies; views of Elijah Muhammad and audience members at various Muslim mass rallies, including Washington, D.C. (1961), the Savior's Day Convention, Chicago (1961), Detroit (1962) and Philadelphia (1962); views from Muhammad's Mosque No. 7 and Restaurant No. 7 (Harlem, New York) where Malcolm X was minister (1960s); portraits of Minister Louis X (Farrakhan), minister of Mosque No. 11 (Boston), and his family (ca. 1960s); and exterior and interior views of the \"Muhammad Speaks\" newspaper offices in New York. Included in this series are views of the facilities, instructors and students at the University of Islam, No. 2, Chicago (ca. 1950s), and stills from a performance of Minister Farrakhan's play \"Orgena\" (n.d.), depicted in color slides.</p> <p>Of special note are a number of images documenting the Ronald Stokes police brutality case in Los Angeles, from 1962-1963. Depicted are views of evidence of the police raid on Muhammad's Mosque No. 27 (Los Angeles); morgue photos of the fatally shot mosque member Ronald Stokes; portraits and candid shots of the mosque members who were arrested, after their release from police custody, in the hospital displaying their injuries, and meeting, probably, with legal counsel; views of anti-police brutality rallies; and views of Stokes's funeral at Mosque No. 27, the funeral motorcade, and Stokes's burial. Also depicted are candid views of Muslims, Minister Malcolm X and members of the press gathered outside and inside the Los Angeles County Courthouse during the legal proceedings; group portraits and candid shots of the defendants arriving at the courthouse; and views inside the courthouse of the defense attorneys, the defendants' families and supporters, the jury for the Coroner's inquest, and the police officers involved in the case.</p> <p>Among those depicted in the Nation of Islam series are Minister Malcolm X, Wallace Deen (Warith Deen) Muhammad, radio minister Elder Lightfoot Michaux, Minister John Shabazz of Muhammad's Mosque No. 27 (Los Angeles), and NAACP Los Angeles Branch president Edward Warren.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The The Malcolm X collection: photographs are arranged in five series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scp/532888#c1685142'>Shabazz Family</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scp/532888#c1685159'>Malcolm X Activities</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scp/532888#c1685211'>Nation of Islam</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scp/532888#c1685297'>Contact Sheets</a></div>\n</li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/scp/532888#c1685342'>Slides</a></div>\n</li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
acqinfo
{"value"=>"<p>Estate of Betty Shabazz, December 2002</p>"}
separatedmaterial
{"value"=>"<p>Forms part of the Malcolm X Collection. Microfilm of the papers can be found in the Manuscripts and Rare Books Division (Malcolm X collection : papers, 1948-1965). Audio and film material can be found in the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division (Malcolm X audio and moving image collection).</p>"}
processinfo
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by Mary Yearwood in 2004.</p>"}
accessrestrict
{"value"=>"<p>Due to conservation considerations, slides and negatives are not currently avaialble to researchers.</p>"}
userestrict
{"value"=>"<p>Reproductions, including scans, photographs, and photocopies, are prohibited.</p>"}
date_start
1950
keydate
1950
date_end
1964
date_inclusive_start
1950
date_inclusive_end
1964
extent_statement
6.12 linear feet (23 boxes). 2168 photographic prints : gelatin silver, b&w ; 26 x 21 cm. and smaller. 127 photographic prints : color ; 13 x 18 cm. and smaller. 799 photographic slides : color ; 5 x 5 cm.. 692 photographs : negative
prefercite
{"value"=>"The Malcolm X collection: photographs, Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library"}
abstract
{"value"=>"Chronology originally published in finding aid for the Malcolm X Collection: Papers, by Andre Elizee et al., 2004 The collection (1950s to mid-1960s) consists of personal photographs of Malcolm X and family, documents many of Malcolm X's activities with the Nation of Islam, and also documents some of the activities of the Nation of Islam, from the 1950s to the mid-1960s. Because of Malcolm X's multiple roles as the national spokesman for the Nation of Islam and minister of several mosques, mainly Muhammad's Mosque No. 7 (Harlem, New York), he is depicted throughout all three series. The collection does not document Malcolm X's activities after he left the Nation of Islam.", "generated"=>true}

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