“I felt I had a direct connection to the past,” said Modupe Labode, assistant professor of history and museum studies at IUPUI as she described her feelings about a new exhibit to be featured at the Indiana State Museum beginning Jan. 19.
The Burns Collection of New York is a compilation of photographs that depict different aspects of African-American life from the 1840s — 1970s. The collection includes pictures that feature family and friends, notable celebrities of the time, images of protest, and shocking events such as lynchings and pictures of slaves taken by their masters. While participants may be familiar with some of the 110 photographs, most of the collection highlights images have never been seen before.
“It’s a cross section of pictures,” said Labode, who is also a public scholar and guest curator of the museum. “When I was choosing the images, I was trying to give people a foothold of things they already knew, but also (provide) pictures that struck me as unusual.”
Although the exhibit hails from New York, the images come from across the country. There will also be images that specifically relate to Indiana such as photographs of bicycle champion Major Taylor, a Hoosier native and one of the most famous athletes in the world during the late 1890s.
“I think it’s wonderful that the museum is providing local residents with such a vast array of images that Blacks can relate to. I plan on taking my grandchildren to see the Burns Collection — it’s definitely something children should be exposed to,” said 63-year-old Ethel Wilkins.
Images included in the Burns Collection feature vernacular photography, which rather than display traditional artistic beauty, evoke emotion.
Labode says it’s important for Blacks to view the Burns Collection because of the education one can attain from the display.
“It’s a way of getting out aspects of people’s past and our nation’s past that sometimes isn’t in history books,” Labode said. “The photographs fill an aspect of history that falls between the cracks of documents.”
After attendees view the collection, Labode, hopes they leave with a newfound sense of understanding.
“I want them to know that African-Americans lived extremely diverse lives…that you can’t just categorize the experience of African-Americans into one section or the other.
“I want people to have a sense that the history of African-Americans is also the history of the United States.”
