Picturing Black History in Milwaukee & Beyond
Introduction by Scholar-Griot: Mia Phifer
Editor: Dr. Robert S. Smith
Introduction
ABHM staff and interns created this gallery to complement the work of Daniela Edmeier, Damarius Johnson, Nicholas B. Breyfogle, and Steven Conn on Picturing Black History: Photographs and Stories that Changed the World. Their main ambition with this book was to “both uncover and better contextualize Black history in photographs.”
Like the editors, our goal with these virtual exhibits is to highlight three digital archives that house photographs of Black history (in Milwaukee and beyond), while also analyzing select photos from each archive. We aim to demonstrate how these photographs contribute to our understanding of Black history. We encourage you to explore the archives on your own using the historical context provided here and the tools we provide for analyzing historical photographs.
Exhibits
Photographs from WHS Freedom Summer Archive
This selection of photographs from the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Freedom Summer Archive documents the grassroots activism and local organizing that defined Mississippi’s 1964 Freedom Summer. Preserved through the foresight of WHS archivists and civil rights participants, these images have informed national and traveling exhibits, including Risking Everything, and support ABHM’s ongoing work connecting Southern civil rights struggles to activism in Milwaukee and beyond.
Photographs from UWM March on Milwaukee Archive
This selection of photographs from the March on Milwaukee archive documents the city’s pivotal fair housing movement of the 1960s, when activists challenged segregation through sustained protest and direct action. Together, these images capture Milwaukee’s vital role in the national struggle for civil rights and the passage of federal fair housing legislation.
Photographs from Dynamic Range
Dynamic Range presents a powerful selection of photographs by Milwaukee photographer Bill Tennessen, curated by ABHM staff and interns in collaboration with the Haggerty Museum of Art. Drawn from a larger exhibition documenting Milwaukee’s Black community from the 1980s through the early 2000s, these images capture moments of cultural life, civic struggle, and everyday experience. Together, the photographs offer a lasting visual record of the city’s Black history and its enduring impact.
