Archives of American Art
Harlem on My Mind exhibition records
Schoener, Allon
AAA.schoallo
Archival Resource Key
3 Linear feet
0.371 Gigabytes
1966-2007
The Harlem on My Mind exhibition records measure 3.0 linear feet and 0.371 GB and date from 1966-2007. The records contain exhibition and book files, correspondence, research material, printed and digital material and photographs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition. Also included is material documenting additional exhibitions, conferences and events relating to the original exhibition.
English
.
Provenance
The papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2009 by Allon Schoener.
Processing Information
The papers were processed by Justin Brancato in 2010. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
Preferred Citation
Harlem on My Mind exhibition records, 1966-2007. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Restrictions on Access
Use of original material requires an appointment.
Terms of Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.
Biographical Note
Allon Schoener (b.1926) is a writer, cultural historian, consultant, and organizer of exhibitions that focus on topics such as African Americans, Italian Americans, Jewish Americans, and the history of the Lower East Side. His best known exhibition was the highly controversial show "Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America." A graduate of Yale University, he currently lives in Los Angeles.
"Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968" was a 1969 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art organized by Allon Schoener. The exhibition documented life in Harlem through the use of photographs, film and audio recordings. It was created under the directorship of Thomas Hoving and contributed to the exhibition model commonly known as the "blockbuster" show.
At the time, the exhibition was much reviled, having received harsh criticism from critics, politicians, and the public alike. The initial spark was an essay in the accompanying book by 17-year-old Harlem high school student Candice Van Ellison. The essay contained prejudicial remarks about members of the Jewish, Irish and Puerto Rican communities. The book was quickly removed from the Museum and pulled from bookshelves by the publisher.
Additional criticism focused on several key issues, including the exhibition's multimedia platform; the lack of paintings and sculptures, particularly by African-American artists; and a thematic presentation that used documentary techniques that focused on sociological and cultural issues. Such criticism was compounded by the Harlem Cultural Council's withdrawal of support.
Schoener wrote that the objective of the exhibition was to "demonstrate that the black community in Harlem is a major cultural environment with enormous strength and potential? that this community has made major contributions to the mainstream of American culture in music, theater and literature." The exhibition documented Harlem from its beginnings in the early 20th century as a prosperous white neighborhood, through the influx of southern African-Americans, up to the civil rights movements of the late 1960s.
After the original exhibition ended, Schoener spent the next several decades working intermittently on re-creations of the exhibition, some of which failed to see fruition. Others succeeded, culminating as shows at Columbia University and the I. P. Stanback Museum. Schoener participated in numerous panel discussions, events and conferences, including the Schomburg Center and Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
His book, Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, was reissued after a prolonged struggle to obtain the rights from its original publisher. Editions were published in 1979, 1995 and 2007, with forewords by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel.
Scope and Content Note
The "Harlem on My Mind" exhibition records measure 3.0 linear feet and 0.371 GB and date from 1966-2007. The records contain exhibition and book files, correspondence, research material, printed and digital material and photographs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition. Also included is material documenting additional exhibitions, conferences and events relating to the original exhibition.
Correspondence, 1967-2007, concerns all aspects of production and coordination of the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition, the public's response to the controversial Candice Van Ellison catalog introduction, letters of support, the 10th Anniversary celebration, and a letter from U.S. Representative Charles B. Rangel.
Exhibition files for the original "Harlem on My Mind" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968-1969, include awards, budgets, construction and installation notes, floor plans, an installation log, invoices, notes, photographs, public relations, schedules, research, statistics, printed material and audio relating to the exhibition.
"Harlem on My Mind" exhibition re-creation files from 1978-2007 contain correspondence, project outline, and exhibition files including Harlem: USA/International Traveling Exhibition and Cultural Festival, 1985-1987; Columbia University Exhibition, 2006-2007; and I. P. Stanback Museum Exhibition, 2006-2007.
Harlem on My Mind book files, 1967-2007, consist of correspondence, invoices, outline, permissions, royalty statements, notes and writings.
Conferences and events, 1978-2007, include: "Harlem: The Last Ten Years," International Center of Photography, 1978-1979; Post Modernism Conference, Brooklyn Academy of Music; "Global Cities," 1985-1992, Schomburg Conference, 1993-1999; "A Walk Through Harlem," Schomburg Center, 1999; "The (Un)making of the Black Cultural Mecca," the New School, 2003; "Harlem Displaced" and "Harlem in Our Eyes," Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute, 1999-2006; and "Harlem Then and Now," Schomburg Center, 2007.
Printed material, 1968-2007, includes newspaper and magazine clippings, three editions of Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968 (1979, 1995 and 2007), and the book jacket for the 1968 edition.
Arrangement
Most material is arranged chornologically unless noted otherwise in the series description.
The Harlem on My Mind exhibition records are organized into 6 series.
Missing Title
- Series 1: Correspondence, 1967-2007 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
- Series 2: Exhibition Files, Harlem on My Mind, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1967-1969 (Box 1; 0.9 linear feet, ER01; 0.371 GB)
- Series 3: Harlem on My Mind Re-creation, 1978-2007 (Box 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)
- Series 4: Harlem on My Mind Book, 1967-2007 (Box 2; 0.3 linear feet)
- Series 5: Conferences and Events, 1978-2007 (Box 2-3; 0.8 linear feet)
- Series 6: Printed Material, 1968-2007 (Box 3; 0.3 linear feet)
Awards
Photographs
Sound recordings
Scrapbooks
Notes
Authors
Exhibitions
Rangel, Charles B.
Van Ellison, Candace
Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
Correspondence
Series 1
Archival Resource Key
1967-2007
(Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)
Scope and Contents note
Allon Schoener's correspondence includes all aspects of production and coordination of the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition, including managerial, procedural and curatorial issues. Correspondence also documents the public's response to the controversial Candice Van Ellison catalog introduction and includes letters of support for the exhibition. Notable correspondents include photographer Todd Webb and Thomas Hoving, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; as well as correspondence from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York State Council on the Arts, Library of Congress, Life Magazine, and Underwood and Underwood News Photos, Inc. Also included are memoranda from Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York State Council on the Arts, and a letter of congratulations from U.S. Representative Charles B. Rangel, author of the foreword to the 2007 edition of Harlem on My Mind.
General
Archival Resource Key
1967-1968 June
1
1
General
General
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1968 July-October
1
2
General
General
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1968 November-1970
1
3
General
In Response to Candice Van Ellison's Introduction
Archival Resource Key
1969
1
4
In Support of Exhibition
Archival Resource Key
1969
(photocopies)
1
5
Tenth Anniversary of Exhibition
Archival Resource Key
1978-1979
1
6
Susan Cahan
Archival Resource Key
2001
1
7
Stephen Dubin
Archival Resource Key
1998-1999
1
8
George Magazine
Archival Resource Key
1998-1999,
1
9
Charles B. Rangel
Archival Resource Key
2007
1
10
Exhibition Files, Harlem on My Mind
Series 2
Archival Resource Key
0.371 Gigabytes
ER01
1967-1969
(Box 1; 0.9 linear feet)
Scope and Contents note
Exhibition files for the original "Harlem on My Mind" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968-1969, document awards, budgets, construction and installation notes, floor plans, installation logs, interview and photographic topics, invoices, notes, photographs, progress reports, public relations schedules, research, scheduling, slide projections, sound script, statistics, titles, printed material and audio for exhibition.
The file on the exhibition's budget includes correspondence, budget reports, lists of materials and resources, and notes for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 1969 exhibition.
Photographs include images that were either used or considered for the 1969 exhibition, as well as oversized contact sheets of the exhibition's installation.
Arrangement note
Invoices are filed numerically, using Schoener's numbering system.
Award undated
Archival Resource Key
1
11
Budget
Archival Resource Key
1967-1969
1
12
Closed Circuit Television Facility
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
13
Community Advisory Committee
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
14
Construction and Installation Notes
Archival Resource Key
1968-1969
1
15
Floor Plan
Archival Resource Key
1968
(oversized material housed in OV 6)
1
16
Floor Plan
Installation Log
Archival Resource Key
1969
1
17
Interview and Photographic Topics
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
18
Invoices
Archival Resource Key
1968-1969
(original collation retained)
1
19
Notes
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
20
Photograph and Slide List
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
21
Photographs
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
22
Installation Photographs
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
23
Installation Photographs
Oversized Installation Photographs scanned to Box 1, Folder 23
Archival Resource Key
5
Photography Research
Archival Resource Key
1967-1968
1
24
Photocopies of Photographs
Archival Resource Key
1
Harlem on My Mind Exhibition
Archival Resource Key
1968-1969
(2 folders)
1
25-26
Bill Miles Notebooks
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
27
New York Public Library
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
28
Progress Report
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
29
Progress Report
Public Relations Schedule
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
30
Research
Archival Resource Key
1
Historical Note
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
31
Historical Note and Chronology
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
32
Printed Material, Harlem: A Study in Depth
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
33
Scheduling
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
34
Slide Projections
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
35
Sound Script
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
36
Statistics
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
37
Titles
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
38
Printed Material
Archival Resource Key
1
Exhibition Announcements and Invitations
Archival Resource Key
1968
1
39
Poster for "Harlem on My Mind" Exhibition
Archival Resource Key
undated
1
40
Printed Material from Box 1, folder 41
Archival Resource Key
8
Audio for Exhibition
Archival Resource Key
1 Sound cassette
undated
(unable to find additional 33 1/3 rpm vinyl record)
Includes born-digital records, see ER01.
1
41
Audio for Exhibition (Undated), Digital Audio Recording
Archival Resource Key
0.371 Gigabytes
Two computer files
2019
ER01
Floor Plan
Archival Resource Key
1968
6
"Harlem on My Mind" Re-creation
Series 3
Archival Resource Key
1978-2007
(Box 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)
Scope and Contents note
"Harlem on My Mind" re-creation files consist of correspondence, project outline, and exhibition files including: Harlem: USA/International Traveling Exhibition and Cultural Festival, 1985-1987; Columbia University Exhibition, 2006-2007; and I. P. Stanback Museum Exhibition, 2006-2007.
The correspondence concerns various versions of planned re-creations of "Harlem on My Mind," some of which never came to fruition.
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1978-1995
(3 folders)
1
42-44
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1995-1996, undated
(2 folders)
2
1-2
Project Outline for New Exhibition
Archival Resource Key
1995, undated
2
3
Harlem: USA/International Traveling Exhibition and Cultural Festival
Archival Resource Key
1985-1987
2
4
Columbia University Exhibition
Archival Resource Key
2006-2007
2
5
I. P. Stanback Museum Exhibition
Archival Resource Key
2006-2007
2
6
Photography List
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
7
Harlem on My Mind Book
Series 4
Archival Resource Key
1967-2007,
(Box 2; 0.3 linear feet)
Scope and Contents note
Harlem on My Mind book files consist of correspondence and documents including: New Press, invoices, outline, payments, permissions, royalty statements, notes and writings. Correspondence documents the challenges of publishing several editions with different publishers over three decades, and includes book contracts from Random House and Dell Publishing (Delacorte Press). There is correspondence with Random House and Grove Press regarding disputed ownership rights to Harlem on My Mind. Among the notable correspondents are Thomas Hoving, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and photographer James Van Der Zee, known for his portraits of African-American New Yorkers.
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
2
General
Archival Resource Key
1967-1999, undated
2
8-9
William J. Clinton
Archival Resource Key
2002
2
10
Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Archival Resource Key
1993-1995
2
11
New Press
Archival Resource Key
1993-2007
2
12
Invoices
Archival Resource Key
1968-1969
2
13
Outline
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
14
Payments
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
15
Permissions and Reproduction Rights
Archival Resource Key
1968-1979, undated
2
16-17
Permissions and Reproduction Rights from Box 2, folder 17
Archival Resource Key
1968-1979, undated
7
Royalty Statements
Archival Resource Key
1969-1982
2
18
Notes
Archival Resource Key
2
Budget
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
19
Chronology of African-American History
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
20
Miscellaneous
Archival Resource Key
1977-1978
2
21
Writings
Archival Resource Key
2
Introduction Statements
Archival Resource Key
1969
2
22
Forewords and Introduction
Archival Resource Key
1995, undated
2
23
From Pariah to Hero by Allon Schoener
Archival Resource Key
2007
2
24
Conferences and Events
Series 5
Archival Resource Key
1978-2007,
(Box 2-3; 0.8 linear feet)
Scope and Contents note
Conferences and events include: "Harlem: The Last Ten Years," International Center of Photography, 1978-1979; Post Modernism Conference, Brooklyn Academy of Music; "Global Cities," 1985-1992; Schomburg Conference, 1993-1999; "A Walk Through Harlem," Schomburg Center, 1999; "The (Un)making of the Black Cultural Mecca," the New School, 2003; "Harlem Displaced" and "Harlem in Our Eyes," Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute, 1999-2006; and "Harlem Then and Now," Schomburg Center, 2007.
Harlem: The Last Ten Years, International Center of Photography
Archival Resource Key
1978-1979
2
25
Post Modernism Conference, Brooklyn Academy of Music
Archival Resource Key
2
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1985-1988
(2 folders)
2
26-27
Program Committee
Archival Resource Key
1985-1987
2
28
Proposal and Outline
Archival Resource Key
1985-1986
2
29
Book Proposal, The Post Modernism World
Archival Resource Key
1986-1988
2
30
Floor Plans
Archival Resource Key
1986
(oversized material housed in OV 6)
2
31
Writings
Archival Resource Key
2
Impasse Post-Moderne et Transition Post-Media
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
32
Une Critique de l'Exposition Les Immatériaux,"
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
33
Printed Material, Newspaper and Magazine Clippings
Archival Resource Key
1985-1987
2
34
Photographs, Polaroids of Theater
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
35
Global Cities Event
Archival Resource Key
2
Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
1985-1992
2
36
Proposal
Archival Resource Key
1987-1988
2
37
Budget
Archival Resource Key
1990
2
38
Notes and Printed Material
Archival Resource Key
undated
2
39
Schomburg Conference
Archival Resource Key
1993-1999, undated
3
1-2
A Walk Through Harlem, Schomburg Center
Archival Resource Key
1999
3
3
The (Un)making of the Black Cultural Mecca, The New School
Archival Resource Key
2003
3
4
"Harlem Displaced" and "Harlem in Our Eyes," Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute
Archival Resource Key
1999-2006
3
5
"Harlem Then and Now," Schomburg Center
Archival Resource Key
2007
3
6
Post Modernism Conference, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Floor Plans
Archival Resource Key
1986
6
Printed Material
Series 6
Archival Resource Key
1968-2007
(Box 3; 0.3 linear feet)
Scope and Contents note
Printed material includes newspaper and magazine clippings about the original exhibition and its impact over the years, as well as material researched by Schoener. Also found are three editions of Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968 (1979, 1995 and 2007), and a book jacket for the 1968 edition.
Book Jacket, Harlem on My Mind Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968
Archival Resource Key
1968
3
7
Books, Harlem on My Mind Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968
Archival Resource Key
1979-2007
(2 folders)
3
8-9
Newspapers and Magazine Clippings
Archival Resource Key
4
Harlem on My Mind
Archival Resource Key
circa 1967-2007
4
1
Harlem on My Mind
Research
Archival Resource Key
circa 1966-1993
4
2