Sam Pollard’s documentary “Black Art: In the Absence of Light” (2021) was inspired by David C. Driskell’s 1976 exhibition “Two Centuries of Black American Art.” The traveling exhibition was the first large-scale survey of African American artists, both well-known and not-so-well-known. The film discusses how this show’s legacy has influenced generations of Black artists, curators, […]
Category: Columbia University Archives
News from RBML’s Archivists | February 2021
Kevin Schlottmann, RBML’s head archivist, shares these updates of a selection of new and updated finding aids, as well as newly available collections. 🆕 Newly processed collections Josephine Baker Collection “Documents Baker’s career from her arrival in Paris in 1925 as a show girl in the Revue Negre; her selection to star in a […]
Harold Jacoby and the Stars above Grand Central
The new skylight ceiling of the recently opened Moynihan Train Hall, the expansion of Penn Station, recalls the 1913 opening of Grand Central Terminal and its own celestial ceiling. Above the main concourse, the vaulted ceiling features an expansive mural of stars and constellations, thanks to the expertise of Columbia astronomy professor Harold Jacoby. […]
News from RBML’s Archivists | January 2021
Kevin Schlottmann, RBML’s head archivist, shares these updates of a selection of new and updated finding aids, as well as newly available collections. 🆕 Newly processed and available As we do every January, we lifted restrictions that expired at the turn of the year. This year, 15 collections had folders or sections that were […]
Mamie’s “Lovely Pink Gown”
In 1963, former University President Dwight D. Eisenhower was invited back to Columbia to receive the Alexander Hamilton Medal. For the dinner event held at Low Library, Mamie Eisenhower chose to wear the pink gown she posed in 1950 for her Columbia portrait. This gown is currently held at the University Archives. […]