- unitid
-
{"value"=>"186129", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc MG 984", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b23594636", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1960-2008", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1960/2008"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Richard Saunders papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"4 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"1.13 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Richard Saunders (1922-1987) was a Black photojournalist who primarily covered Black communities in the United States and later Africa and the Middle East. Most of the collection is from Saunders' time as a lead photographer for the United States Information Agency, where he photographed and interviewed for <span class=\"title\">Topic</span>, a magazine distributed in Africa. The papers hold tearsheets from the magazine, captions, notes, and transcripts from interviews."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Saunders, Richard, 1922-1987", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Richard Saunders was a Black photojournalist born in Bermuda in 1922. He moved to the United States with his family in 1930, where he developed an interest in photography. When his family moved back to Bermuda, during the outbreak of World War II, Saunders found a job in a friend's camera store and worked briefly as a police department photographer.</p> <p>Saunders relocated to New York City in 1945, where he studied photography at Brooklyn College and humanities and sociology at the New School for Social Research. In New York, Saunders befriended the photographer Gordon Parks, who helped him secure a job as a photographic lab technician. In the late 1940s, Saunders started taking photography assignments from the photo agency Black Star. Saunders' first published photograph was an <span class=\"title\">Ebony</span> magazine cover depicting his wife, Emily Saunders (formerly Wilson). Emily Saunders was a seamstress and also often worked as Richard's assistant.</p> <p>In 1951, Saunders was asked to join a group of photographers selected by Roy Stryker to document Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during its period of deindustrialization for the Pittsburgh Photographic Library at the University of Pittsburgh. Stryker, formerly of the Information Division of the Farm Security Association, had managed several large projects where he would employ and mentor photojournalists. Stryker encouraged photojournalists to be both knowledgeable and compassionate about their subjects. For two years, Saunders lived with and photographed Black families in the Lower Hill District, a major cultural center for the Black community of Pittsburgh. Saunders documented the area from 1955 until 1960, a period when buildings in the Hill District were demolished to make room for a sports arena, displacing the community as a whole. This work was recognized by <span class=\"title\">Life</span> magazine, and he was awarded the Young Photographers Contest prize.</p> <p>Throughout the 1950s to the early 1960s, Saunders took assignments from various publications, including <span class=\"title\">Ladies Home Journal</span>, <span class=\"title\">Fortune</span>, <span class=\"title\">Ebony</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Look</span>. Wanting to focus on socially conscious photo essay work, Saunders practiced as a freelance photographer in the 1960s. Some of his significant projects included photographing civil rights leaders Malcolm X and James Farmer. The pictures were subsequently printed in <span class=\"title\">The New York Times</span> and other major newspapers.</p> <p>Saunders began his over twenty-year association with the United States Information Agency (USIA) in 1967. He was hired as their international editor and photographer for <span class=\"title\">Topic</span>, the agency's magazine distributed in USIA outposts in Africa to promote American aid and cooperation. Saunders lived in Tunisia, and traveled throughout Africa and the Middle East taking photographs for <span class=\"title\">Topic</span>. While working in Africa and the Middle East, Saunders wrote articles and recorded interviews with different subjects. Saunders continued photographing in Africa until his retirement in 1986.</p> <p>Richard Saunders died in Washington, DC in 1987. In the 1990s, Emily Saunders and Kay Reese began work on a book of Richard's photography, but the project was never published.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Richard Saunders papers hold non-photographic material related to Saunders' time as a working photojournalist. The papers reflect Saunders' career, following his documentary work in the United States from 1955 through 1983, and his work for <span class=\"title\">Topic</span> magazine in Africa from 1967 through the 1980s.</p> <p>The Art Director Club files contain a 1973 certificate given to Saunders for his magazine work for <span class=\"title\">Topic</span>.</p> <p>Assignments contains documents related to Saunders' early freelance work, transcripts of recorded interviews, and tearsheets from <span class=\"title\">Topic</span> magazine.</p> <p>The Book Proposal files address the book project started by Emily Saunders in the 1990s. There is correspondence, files regarding the book's publication, and clippings related to Saunders and his work present.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The files are arranged alphabetically into: Art Director Club Award, Assignments, and Book Proposal.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated to the Schomburg Center in 1989.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>See the Photographs and Prints, Schomburg Center for the Richard Saunders photographs, Sc Photo Richard Saunders Collection.</p> <p>See the Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, Schomburg Center for the Richard Saunders recordings.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Emily P. Dunne</span> in <span class=\"date\">2025</span>.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1960
- keydate
-
1960
- date_end
-
2008
- date_inclusive_start
-
1960
- date_inclusive_end
-
2008
- extent_statement
-
1.13 linear feet (4 boxes)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"[Item], Richard Saunders papers, Sc MG 984, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, The New York Public Library"}