[Chicago Defender News Truck with Three Men Holding Papers]

1928

Not on view

Van Der Zee enjoyed a reputation as Harlem’s preeminent photographer in the 1920s and 1930s. Here, he staged a portrait of the New York distributors of the Chicago Defender, a pioneering news daily that played a central role in the Great Migration of African Americans out of the rural South. The men hold a newspaper with the headline “De Priest Nominated,” a reference to the first African American from a northern city to be elected to Congress. Van Der Zee’s subtle representation of journalistic activity centered on a milestone in voting rights presages the later importance of reportage within the civil rights movement and Conceptual Art of the 1960s. Enlargements of Van Der Zee’s work were influential in The Met’s controversial multimedia exhibition of 1969, “Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, 1900–1968.”

Artwork Details

Title: [Chicago Defender News Truck with Three Men Holding Papers]
Artist: James Van Der Zee (American, Lenox, Massachusetts 1886–1983 Washington, D.C.)
Date: 1928
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Image: 11 x 16.4 cm (4 5/16 x 6 7/16 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Gift of James Van Der Zee Institute, 1970
Object Number: 1970.539.54
Rights and Reproduction: © James Van Der Zee Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

By James Van Der Zee

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

[Man in Tuxedo], James Van Der Zee American, Gelatin silver print, mirror — [Man in Tuxedo]
James Van Der Zee
1920s

[Flapper with Fiddle], James Van Der Zee American, Gelatin silver print, mirror — [Flapper with Fiddle]
James Van Der Zee
1920s

[Woman Holding Telephone], James Van Der Zee American, Gelatin silver print, mirror — [Woman Holding Telephone]
James Van Der Zee
1920s

[Flapper in Beaded Headdress], James Van Der Zee American, Gelatin silver print, mirror — [Flapper in Beaded Headdress]
James Van Der Zee
1925

[Young Woman Cradling "Positively NO TRUST" Sign], James Van Der Zee American, Gelatin silver print — [Young Woman Cradling "Positively NO TRUST" Sign]
James Van Der Zee
1926

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.