Between the Covers

Unbound. A collection of 30 photographs, 81 negatives, 26 photo release forms, and six letters compiled by Rubie Carter in the 1960s while working as a Community Relations Coordinator. All items near fine.

An archive of images and ephemera compiled by Rubie Carter while working as a community relations coordinator for the New York Board of Education in the late 1960s. She was in charge of collecting photographs for an initiative entitled “Photos that Teach.” In a letter to Howard Leary, the New York City Police Commissioner at the time, Carter lays out her mission writing, “I am presently engaged in developing an educational kit designed for early childhood classes…one of the important aspects of this project is to show Negroes performing meaningful jobs in the community, as well as working in harmony with other racial groups.” She continues, “these pictures are to be used solely for the purpose of helping teachers teach children more effectively. They are not to be used for advertising.” The collection features photographs of African-Americans in various careers including nursing, policemen, milkmen, bus drivers, and barbers, among others. Each photo is stamped on the verso with “official photograph” and documents the date it was taken and the subject or occupation. Carter also collected release forms from each person she used in the photographs, many of which are present here.

Additionally, memos and documentation from school board meetings are also present. The final project is discussed throughout these pages including what to name the project, one suggests “Negroes at Work in the Urban Community” rather than “Photos that Teach.” They also feature the details of the finished product, how big the photos should be, how to identify each, and how many copies will be made for each class. One memo lists the “objectives to be used in photo selection,” which are as follows: “to show that Negro people serve the community in meaningful ways,” “dispel some of the myths concerning Negroes in relation to low status/low ability occupations,” and “to indicate there is Negro/white interdependency in many occupations.”

A fascinating look at an early school board attempt to teach race relations in the 1960s.

Item #448908