A Few Black WOMEN Who Served During WWII tell their Stories.

Remember America’s sHeroes!

For the first time during World War II, African-American women were allowed to enter the military. The first contingent trained in Fort Des Moines, Iowa. Librarian, historian, and bibliographer and Speaker’s Bureau Scholar Janet Sims-Wood discusses the courageous example set by the first African-American WAC unit in Europe. Janet Sims-Wood is former Assistant Chief Librarian in the Reference/Reader Services Department at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University. Watch a video of the African American Female 6888th WWII Postal Battalion Honored at the Whitehouse in 2009 on YouTube, posted by the Washington Post.

Film: ‘Veterans of Color’ screening in Brooklyn, NY Museum

©ourtesy of Audrey Smaltz & theBrooklynMuseum

Friday, November 8, 2013 at 3 p.m.
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Auditorium, 3rd Floor

Through moving interviews, Veterans of Color (Mark Perry, 2012, 60 min.) reveals the reality African American veterans faced when returning home from World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars. A talkback with the film’s producer, Dr. Bernard C. Watson, follows the screening. Presented in conjunction with the exhibition WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY: Images of Armed Conflict and Its Aftermath. For advance tickets, please visit www.museumtix.com.

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1955 Soviet concept cars.

©ourtesy of theniftyfifties 

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Take a peek-at-some fun pics & artist works

©ourtesy of OHARA DESIGN GROUP…for example Philippe Halsman, Max Huber, Helen Levitt and more

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Black and White Photos of People at Work

©ourtesy of Canoe Communications’s Blog

Lewis Hine, 1874 – 1940, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, “During and after World War I, he photographed American Red Cross relief work in Europe. In the 1920s and early 1930s, Hine made a series of “work portraits,” which emphasized the human contribution to modern industry. In 1930, Hine was commissioned to document the construction of The Empire State Building.” Wikipedia

Yesterday was the 100th birthday of famous French photographer Robert Doisneau, known for his Parisian street scenes. Old black and white photographs are historical images of a particular time, event or place.  Black and white photography highlights contrast, depth and texture.  It continues to be a popular medium and art form. Doisneau’s photography made me think about photographers born in the Midwest that shot in black and white.  I did a little research and discovered the work of photographers that were completely new to me.  Maybe they are new to you too. There were many excellent photographers’ pictures, I focused on images taken of people at work.  The seven photographers from America’s heartland are:  Berenice Abbott, Esther Bubley, Lewis Hine,  Bob Natkin, Gordon Parks, Walker Evans, and Russell Lee. If you know about other famous Midwestern photographers that worked in black and white, feel free to share.

Consciousness is a rumor …!

….from Hallidd’s Weblog

Trying to remember what innocence was like. Its impossible. I suppose history is against us. Every generation thinks that somewhere along the way they lost their innocence. For us it was Kennedy’s assassination. For the generation in college it was 911. For our parents it was Pearl Harbor. Or maybe The Crash. But the world has never been innocent. We’ve just been stupid. So I’ve imposed innocence on this story. I’ve treated childhood like a cartoon. That everything is exaggerated. … more here

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