- unitid
-
{"value"=>"188279", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"Sc Photo Hollis R. Lynch Collection", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b23680191", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1945-2000s", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1945/2009"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Hollis R. Lynch photographs"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"2 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"0.67 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}]}
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"369 photographic prints", "unit"=>"photographic_prints"}]}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Hollis Lynch (born 1935) is a Tobagonian scholar of African history and professor emeritus at Columbia University. Lynch's photographs, dating from 1945 to the 2000s, chronicle his personal and professional life with images of his family and friends; images of Columbia University events; portraits; and prints gathered by Lynch for research."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Lynch, Hollis Ralph, 1935-", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Hollis Ralph Lynch is a Tobagonian scholar of African history. Born on April 21, 1935 in John Dial, Tobago, Lynch attended Hope EC School and Bishop's High School on the island before studying history at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. He went on to receive his PhD in history from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London in 1964. Lynch wrote his thesis about Edward Wilmot Blyden, the West Indian-born Liberian diplomat who is considered the father of Pan-Africanism. Lynch would continue to focus his scholarship on Pan-Africanism throughout his career.</p> <p>Following a two-year stint as a lecturer at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Lynch moved to the United States in 1966. He enjoyed associate professorships at Roosevelt University in Chicago, Illinois from 1966 to 1968, and the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1968 to 1969, where he developed one of the nation's first Black studies programs. Lynch was subsequently hired as a professor of Black and Pan African studies at Columbia University, where he served as director of the Institute for African Studies from 1971 to 1974, and again from 1986 through the 1990s. In 1981, Lynch became Columbia's first faculty-in-residence at Wallach Hall. In 2005, he became professor emeritus at Columbia.</p> <p>Along with his professorship at Columbia, Lynch has been a visiting professor to Harvard University, Vassar College, and Emory University. He has lectured at dozens of institutions on topics related to Pan-Africanism, African Americans, the Caribbean, and African nationalism.</p> <p>Lynch is the author or co-author of several books, including <span class=\"title\">Edward Wilmot Blyden: Pan-Negro Patriot, 1832-1912</span> (1967), <span class=\"title\">The Black Urban Condition: A Documentary History, 1866-1971</span> (1973), and <span class=\"title\">Black American Radicals and the Liberation of Africa: The Council on African Affairs, 1937-1955</span> (1978). Additionally, Lynch has edited the published papers of Edward Wilmot Blyden, as well as a series of biographies of notable Black figures for Oxford University Press. He has written articles for journals such as <span class=\"title\">The Journal of African History</span>, <span class=\"title\">New African</span>, and <span class=\"title\">Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria</span>; and contributed entries to <span class=\"title\">Collier's Encyclopedia</span> and <span class=\"title\">Encyclopedia of World Biography</span>.</p> <p>Lynch spent decades researching the life and career of Kingsley Ozumba (K.O.) Mbadiwe, the 20th century Nigerian diplomat and nationalist who co-founded the African Academy of Arts of Research. Lynch wrote the first major biography of Mbadiwe, <span class=\"title\">K.O. Mbadiwe: A Nigerian Political Biography, 1915-1990</span>, published in 2012.</p> <p>Over the course of his career, Lynch has held memberships in professional organizations such as the American Historical Association, African Studies Association, Organization of American Historians, and Caribbean Studies Association. He has also received honors for his scholarship and writing. As an undergraduate at the University of British Columbia, Lynch was awarded the Annie Southcott Memorial Prize for best honors essay in history. For the 1973-1974 academic season, he was a Hoover Institution National Fellow. In 2012, Lynch was inducted into the Tobago Literary Hall of Fame.</p> <p>In 1973, Lynch purchased Richmond Great House, an 18th century plantation home in Tobago that serves as a tourist attraction and residence for guests. Lynch became the first Black owner of the home in its 200-year history, and he filled the interior with African artifacts and furniture.</p> <p>Lynch was previously married to Sharon Fisher Lynch. He has four children: Shola, Nnenna, Ashale, and Oklemeno. As of 2025, Lynch lives in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Hollis R. Lynch photographs, dating from 1945 to the 2000s, document the professional and personal life of the Tobagonian historian. The collection contains images of Lynch's family and friends, including travel photographs and photographs at Richmond Great House; images of Lynch at Columbia University events and parties; portraits of Lynch; and prints that he gathered for research.</p> <p>Photographs of Lynch's family and friends make up a large portion of the collection. There are photographs of his two daughters, Shola and Nnenna Lynch, from the 1970s through the 2000s. Also present are photographs of Lynch's son Ashale's graduation from Pennsylvania Western University, Clarion in 2005. The collection holds images of Lynch at the University of British Columbia with friends, and a photograph of Lynch's wedding with Sharon Fisher. Some travel photographs are included as well, showing Lynch with friends in Canada and England in 1961, and Germany in 2007.</p> <p>Photographs at Richmond Great House date from the 1970s to 1999. There are photographs of Lynch with friends, family members, and guests; and images depicting the exterior and interior of the building.</p> <p>Event photographs include images from a 1983 colloquium at Wallach Hall with Yusuf Maitama Sule, the former Nigerian representative to the United Nations. There are also photographs of Columbia University staff parties from the 1980s, and images of Lynch at an unidentified event in Dakar, Senegal from the 1960s.</p> <p>Portraits of Lynch date from the 1960s to the 2000s, and consist of both formal and candid shots.</p> <p>The collection holds several prints that Lynch gathered for research. There are prints of K.O. Mbadiwe at a 1946 dance and music festival presented by the African Academy of Arts and Research. Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a guest of honor at the festival, is in two of these prints. Other research prints are of individuals closely associated with Pan-Africanism: Henry Sylvester Williams, Arthur Barclay, and James \"Africanus\" Beale Horton.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>Arranged alphabetically by subject.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Hollis Lynch in 2024.</p>"}
- separatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>See the Manuscripts, Archives, and Rare Books Division for the Hollis R. Lynch papers, Sc MG 1018.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Nathan Evans</span> in <span class=\"date\">2025</span>.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1945
- keydate
-
1945
- date_end
-
2009
- date_inclusive_start
-
1945
- date_inclusive_end
-
2009
- extent_statement
-
0.67 linear feet (2 boxes). 369 photographic prints
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Hollis R. Lynch photographs, Photographs and Prints Division. Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, The New York Public Library"}