Photographs from Dynamic Range exhibit
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Scholar-Griot: Mia Phifer
Editor: Robert S. Smith, PhD
Introduction to Collection
In the spring of 2023, ABHM staff and interns joined a team at the Haggerty Museum of Art in visiting the home of Milwaukee photographer Bill Tennessen. While there, we searched through his vast collection of photographs that became an exhibit at the Haggerty, Dynamic Range. The team whittled down our initial selection of 100 photographs of Milwaukee’s history to just 50, which became the basis for the exhibition.
With extensive research, we were able to curate an impactful exhibition that ran from January 19th through May 12th, 2024. From Juneteenth celebrations, to Marquette and Bucks basketball games, the Ernest Lacy Inquest, and visiting cultural and political figures, the exhibit documents Milwaukee’s Black community from the 1980s to the early 2000s. Together, these paint a portrait of the city and lend insight into our local history. While the physical exhibition is over, Haggerty has digitized the images used in the exhibit, and published an exhibition book available for purchase. Below are just a few photographs from Dynamic Range.
Select Photos from Collection
Juneteenth Day
As the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, Juneteenth is arguably the most important holiday in this country. June 19th, 1865 was the day when enslaved African Americans in the western most part of the Confederacy (Galveston, Texas) were informed of the ending of slavery. While not technically the date of slavery’s end, Juneteenth (combination of June and nineteenth) was adopted as the day to celebrate freedom.
Thanks to a southern transplant who moved to the city and worked at Northcott Neighborhood House, Milwaukee has one of the longest-running and largest Juneteenth celebrations outside of the South. This year will mark 55 years of recognizing Juneteenth in the city. Juneteenth day this year will also mark America’s Black Holocaust Museum’s 38th founding anniversary.
With these photos, Tennessen preserves and shares the joy and communal love that characterize these celebrations. The photos also invoke how these celebrations of freedom are intergenerational, connecting America with the larger African diaspora, and connecting contemporary experiences to the Black past in the United States.
Juneteenth Day Celebration, 1985
Milwaukee youth celebrating Juneteenth Day in 1985. Hip hop’s aesthetics and Afro-caribbean polyrhythms became central to Juneteenth celebrations, with Milwaukee youth in the 1980s driving the culture locally. With this photo, Tennesen froze in time a moment of 1980s culture and influence, with the large boombox, the poses, hairstyles, fits, and expressions expertly and explicitly captured.
Politicians/VIPs
Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Milwaukee was visited by some of the most prominent and influential politicians of that time: Bill and Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and Jesse Jackson among them. Also at this time, due to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Black leaders continued to push for greater representation in political offices, from city councils to congressional seats. In the 1970s and 1980s, Shirley Chisolm and Jesse Jackson ran major presidential campaigns and received a surprising margin of the primary votes, demonstrating the power of their messages and the impact of removing barriers that prevented African Americans from voting in many states.
Many prominent politicians and changemakers raised awareness of key concerns on behalf of Black Milwaukeeans, including Vel R. Phillips (drafted Milwaukee’s Fair Housing Legislation), Lloyd Barbee (NAACP state president who fought to end segregation in Milwaukee schools), and Dr. James Cameron (founder of America’s Black Holocaust Museum). The many visionaries, activists, politicians, and scholars in Milwaukee of the era were preserved for history by Tennessen’s lens and their work was shared with others through documentation by the Milwaukee Community Journal and other Black newspapers in the city.
Dr. Joe William Trotter, Jr. and Dr. James Cameron at the Wisconsin Humanities Committee Conference, 1991
Dr. Joe William Trotter, Jr. (left) and Dr. James Cameron (right) spoke at the Wisconsin Humanities Committee Conference on “The Stories We Tell” at the Park East Hotel in Milwaukee on May 29, 1991. Dr. Trotter, a professor of history at Carnegie-Mellon University and author of Black Milwaukee (2006), gave the event’s keynote address. Dr. Cameron, a scholar activist and lynching survivor, opened America’s Black Holocaust Museum in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville neighborhood in 1988. In this photo, Tennessen captured the meeting of two great minds dedicated to sharing and preserving the history of Milwaukee's Black community. In nearly all the photos we have of Dr. Cameron, he is wearing the ABHM patch you see here. Both men seem to be deeply engaged in the conversation.
Earnest Lacy
In July 1981, Ernest Lacy was killed in police custody, leading to demonstrations demanding justice for Lacy and his family. On that dreadful night, Lacy was stopped by three Milwaukee police officers who claimed Lacy fit the description of a rape suspect.
A New York Times article from August 16, 1981 recounted the following details:
On the evening Lacy was killed, he was stopped by George Kalt, James Dekker and Thomas Eliopul. The three officers were members of a special tactical squad that had been organized during the 1960s.
An eyewitness stated the officers put the handcuffs on Lacy behind his back. As two officers held down Lacy’s legs, “...a third officer placed his knee between Mr. Lacy's shoulder blades, forcing him to lie face down with his left cheek pinned to the ground.” In a horrific act, the officers pulled Mr. Lacy's arms up ''beyond his shoulder blades and over his ears.''
After a violent, convulsive seizure, Lacy became lifeless and was placed in the back of a police van. The three policemen argued they were guilty of no wrongdoing. Harold Breier, then chief of police, confirmed that a departmental investigation supported their claims. Breier refused to suspend the officers until he was forced to do so two weeks later by the Fire and Police Commission as protests mounted. An independent medical examiner determined that “...the extension of Mr. Lacy's arms towards his head interfered with the flow of oxygen to his lungs and proved fatal.”
Lacy had no involvement with the rape case for which he was detained. One officer was fired and the others were suspended. Wisconsin adopted Lacy’s Law, which requires officers to provide medical attention to those asking for it. As Dr. James Cameron, founder of America’s Black Holocaust Museum, stated in his pamphlet An Open letter…Regarding the Earnest Lacy Complaint, “Milwaukee has had her share of a carnival of police brutality blood, as gory as can be found anywhere.”
Ernest Lacy March and Rally - 7/9/1982
“Justice Delayed is Justice Denied”: A year after the murder of Ernest Lacy (July 9th, 1982), marchers protest the dismissal of charges against the officers directly involved in his murder: George Kalt, James Dekker, and Thomas Eliopul. In this photo, Tennesen documented the interracial and intergenerational makeup of this protest movement, as well as thought that went into its organization (indicated by the matching shirts and well made signs). Taken a year after Lacy’s death, you can see the fervor of the protest movement still intact, with people captured mid-chant and a few with raised fists.
Ernest Lacy March and Rally - 7/9/1982
On the one-year anniversary of the murder of Ernest Lacy (July 9th, 1982), protestors from various groups, including the All-People’s Congress Against Apartheid, demonstrated in demand for justice. This photograph of the same protest captures the movement a little differently, with some people posing for and/or looking directly at the camera. Others seem to be clapping along to a song or chant. Again, one can see people of different races, ages, and genders coming together to remember Ernie and demand justice for his murder. Evidence of the clergy’s participation in the march can be seen by the priest holding up a sign on the righthand side.
Myrtle Lacy (Mother of Ernest Lacy), 5/20/1983
Two years after the death of Ernest Lacy (May 20th, 1983), his mother Myrtle, and sister Kim, spoke with WISN-12 news after the Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission found five Milwaukee police officers (James Dekker, George Kalt, Robert Enters, Kenneth Kinichick, and Thomas Eliopul) guilty of failing to render first aid to Lacy while in custody. Officer Eliopul was additionally found guilty of using excessive force in the arrest. In this close up profile of Myrtle captured by Tennesen, you can see both the sadness and conviction in her expression, as well as the admiration of her daughter in the background.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee
Supporting local kids and teens since 1887, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee (BGCGM) is the largest youth-serving agency in the city and has grown to become one of the largest in the country. With programs that span sports, education, college access, career development, health & wellness, leadership, and social emotional development, BGCGM has a longstanding commitment to addressing some of the most pressing issues concerning Milwaukee’s youth.
Tennessen helped ensure the Milwaukee Community Journal consistently documented the great programs sponsored by BGCGM by taking his photos to the newspaper with a brief narrative attached. Media and politicians portrayed Black youth as dangerous, undriven, and without hope, stereotypes that persist to this day. In contrast, Tennessen’s photos show the creativity, talent, and joy of Milwaukee’s young Black people and also show the continuous investment in their livelihoods on the part of the BGCGM.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee Art Show, 1992
In 1992, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee held an art show for members at the Bradley Center, an arena that held many events before it was demolished in 2019. Approximately 370 artists aged 6 to 18 participated and over 500 works were displayed. It is (almost) all smiles in this photo Tennessen took of some of the participants. Unmitigated joy, pride, and youthful energy are on display here.
Community
Milwaukee’s Black population grew significantly in the decades immediately following World War II during a period referred to by historians as the Great Migration. The population ballooned from 21,772 in 1950 to 62,458 in 1960 and then to 105,088 in 1970. These numbers highlight the continued movement of Black southerners to Milwaukee, which was due largely to the industrial employment opportunities still available in the “Machine Shop Capital of the World.” As an urban and industrial destination, Milwaukee’s neighborhoods would be transformed by the influx of African Americans from the South, many of whom found stable economic opportunities. However, as some Black people benefitted from labor opportunities in the Cream City, others would face economic challenges as the city began its steep industrial decline. Nonetheless, as Milwaukee’s Black population increased, local business, schools, and neighborhoods would be forever changed as African Americans redefined Milwaukee’s geo-political and economic landscapes.
Man Speaking with Police, 1985
Two white policemen lean against a storefront in conversation with a Black man in 1985. You can see many people out and about and an advertisement for the upcoming Juneteenth celebration on Martin Luther King Drive. What do you think they are discussing? What interests you about this photograph?
See the collection at the Haggerty Museum of Art.
Exhibit Credits
Scholar-Griot, Mia Phifer is the Senior Education, Collections, & Outreach Coordinator at America’s Black Holocaust Museum. She is a trained Public Historian who earned her M.A. in History at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, along with certificates in Museum Studies and Nonprofit Management. Her expertise is in historical research & writing, collections management, curriculum development, advocacy, and educational programming. At ABHM, Mia designs and implements ABHM’s educational programs, manages the museum’s collections and archives, and initiates and sustains ongoing partnerships and collaborations locally and nationally.
Editor, Dr. Robert S. Smith is the Harry G. John Professor of History and the Director of the Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach at Marquette University. He serves as ABHM’s Director of Education and Resident Historian. His research and teaching interests include African American history, civil rights history, and exploring the intersections of race and law. Dr. Smith is the author of Black Liberation from Reconstruction to Black Lives Matter and Race, Labor & Civil Rights; Griggs v. Duke Power and the Struggle for Equal Employment Opportunity. Prior to joining Marquette University, Dr. Smith served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Inclusion & Engagement and Director of the Cultures & Communities Program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. And, Rob is the proud father of Henderson Marcellus Smith.
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