EARL W. MCGEE:
An Inventory of his Contact Sheet Photograph Albums at the Minnesota Historical Society
Sound and Visual Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | McGee, Earl W., photographer. | |
| Title: | Earl W. McGee contact sheet photograph albums. | |
| Dates: | 1961-1966. | |
| Abstract: | A collection of contact sheet photographs, 1961-1966 by Earl W. McGee, a prominent Black photographer. Six three ring binders holding a combined 424 three-hole punched leaves of photograph contact sheets, most measuring about 8 x 10 in. The contact sheets contain approximately 8,000 images. Approximately half the images measure 2 1/4" x 2 1/4"; many are 35 mm. Many of the leaves are captioned. The captions become more frequent over time. The original negatives for nearly all views are included. In some cases there are negatives but no contact sheet. Many of the views are from the Twin Cities and Rochester Metropolitan Areas but include some from Chicago and Savanna, Illinois; Kansas City, Missouri; and Spokane, Washington. The photographs document life in the Twin Cities and Rochester focusing primarily on the lives of Black people. | |
| Quantity: | 6 albums (approximately 8000 photographs): black and white ; 30 cm and smaller. | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Earl W. McGee was an amateur-turned-professional photographer, educator, and civil rights leader in Rochester and Saint Paul, Minnesota. A graduate of Macalester College in Saint Paul, he worked for 13 years as a special education teacher in Saint Paul after which he was hired by I.B.M. in Rochester to improve opportunities for people of color at the corporation. He was also the assistant superintendent for urban affairs for St. Paul Schools for 1971-1972 in between jobs for I.B.M. He started several organizations in Rochester including the Cantorians, a chorus; the Intermours and Loafers, Inc. civic clubs; and the Queen of Hearts Ball, a black tie formal for Black socialites. McGee was involved with the Hallie Q. Brown Center in the Rondo neighborhood of Saint Paul, serving as director of its education division and secretary of its camera club.
Biographical data was adapted from vendor information.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
Subjects include social events, sports, street views, living conditions, community life, business, civil rights and activism.
Images of social life include a black tie event for a club called the Regalettes; several events of social clubs including the Queen of Hearts Ball, Loafers, Inc., Satin Dolls, and Sterling Club; dance held by the Order of the Eastern Star; numerous weddings and baptisms; and American Legion dance with mostly Black members.
Sports related images include group sports team shots including many Black only teams; track and field competitions as well as football, baseball and basketball games; a Harlem Globetrotters event; portraits of a Minneapolis Laker; and the Hallie Q. Brown Pee Wee Sports Club.
Photographs relating to community life include images of living conditions, numerous instances of asking people on the street or at work to stop and pose, what appears to be a segregated hayride, the Hallie Q. Brown Camera Club, Black Cub Scouts, group portraits of the Mount Olivet gospel singing group, and rehearsals for a church play about Black minister and educator Richard Allen.
Business images include a views of I.B.M Rochester, internal shots of a jewelry store, a Black-owned liquor store, a Black barbershop, etc.
Civil rights and activism images include a series showing the Urban League's annual dinner; the 1963 NAACP regional conference; 1965 T.S.T.C. dinner; Black students/employees at I.B.M.; NAACP meeting with June Shagaloff; Selma sympathy march; images of the 1965 NAACP regional conference including a youth rally and march to the courthouse; a B'Hai World Peace Institute in February 1966; Urban League meeting and race conference February 19, 1966; NAACP "youth queens"; Urban League career days; NAACP demonstration at the capitol June 13, 1966; and state Republican and Democratic conventions
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. McGee, Earl W., Earl W. McGee Contact Sheet Photograph Albums. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: AV2023.20
Processing Information:
Processed by: Dave Ehasz, January 2024
Digitized by: Minnesota Historical Society, February-March 2024.
Digitization was made possible by the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Minnesotans on November 4, 2008.
Album 354: Page 22- two strips not on contact sheet, but look like from the same event as the rest of the contact sheet. Page 29- one strip not on contact sheet. Page 85 redacted.
Album 355: Page 66- one strip incorrect from contact sheet, but from same event. Page 68, 104- one strip incorrect. Page 70, 93, 95, 116- one negative strip missing that was on contact. Page 114- two negative strips missing that was on contact.
Album 356: Mrs. Strowder's house/ Our house (no pg. #)- missing all negatives. Otherwise, everything else seemed accurate. Page 13 redacted.
Album 357: Page 67- one strip missing from the contact sheet. Very last page (no #)- one negative strip missing.
Album 358: Rochester Trip 5-15-65 (no #)- one strip incorrect.
Album 359: Launa Newman 3-7-66 (no #)- one negative strip missing.
Catalog ID number: 9989849040204294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Album 354 | 1 album (60 sheets of photographs): black and white; 30 cm. | ||||||||||
| Content summary: | |||||||||||
| Dated 1961-1962. Includes: individual and family portraits; street views; landscapes; classroom scenes; sporting events; views of people engaging in sports and recreational activities. | |||||||||||
Digital version
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| Album 355 | 1 album (69 sheets photographs): black and white; 29 cm. | ||||||||||
| Content summary: | |||||||||||
| Dated 1961-1962. Includes: individual and family portraits; views of Chicago and Savanna, Illinois; street views; landscapes; winter scenes; views of children; parties including the camera club Christmas party; picnics; barbecues; formal occasions including event for the Regalettes; Boy Scout and Cub Scout activities; holidays; dances; building construction; Urban League events; Queen of Hearts television appearance; Loafers, Inc. club event. | |||||||||||
Digital version
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| Album 356 | 1 album (73 sheets of photographs): black and white; 29 cm. | ||||||||||
| Content summary: | |||||||||||
| Dated January 1963-July 1963. Includes: individual and family portraits; street views; Queen of Hearts Ball participants; Queen of Hearts television appearance; views of children; dinners including T.C. Whist Club banquet; dances including a 1961 event at the Lemmington Hotel and another possibly at the Hallie Q. Brown Center; jewelry store; church groups and church events including Mt. Olivet Gospel Group and church officers; various club events including Loafers, Inc. and Hallie Q. Brown Camera Club; Boy Scout and Cub Scout events; adult education photography class; Chicago, Illinois trip; Harlem Globetrotters event; construction workers; birthday parties; automobile accidents; NAACP events; classroom scenes; 1963 Arlan's department store fire; Mounds Park, Saint Paul, Minnesota; Loafers, Inc. poker game; winter scenes; tree trimmers; school events including proms; sporting events; recreational activities; Memorial Day at Como Park; Loafers, Inc. bowling tournament; liquor store employees; weddings; landscapes; houses and house interiors; views of Spokane, Washington. | |||||||||||
Digital version
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| Album 357 | 1 album (80 sheets of photographs): black and white; 29 cm. | ||||||||||
| Content summary: | |||||||||||
| Dated March-December 1964. Includes: individual and family portraits; weddings; landscapes; street views; sports team photographs including the Linwood football team and the Hallie Q. Brown Pee Wee Basketball Team; house interiors; football games including Saint Paul Academy and Linwood games; I.B.M. recruiting including program at Urban League; Saint Paul Academy military review; damaged automobiles; automobile accidents; school teachers; Boy Scouts, singing groups including the Mt. Olivet Choir; Spectacle of Lights; dances including the Playboy Dance presented by Loafers, Inc. and Just For Fun Club; Urban League meetings; Christmas party; track and field events; Satin Dolls Benefit; picnics; dinners including Loafers, Inc. Queen of Hearts Dinner at Sheraton Ritz Hotel; American Legion event; Queen of Hearts television appearance; office views; sheriffs at capitol building; Loafers, Inc. officers and Queen of Hearts; Sterling Club formal; barbershop | |||||||||||
Digital version
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| Album 358 | 1 album (74 sheets of photographs): black and white; 30 cm. | ||||||||||
| Content summary: | |||||||||||
| Dated January 1965-June 1965. Includes: individual and family portraits; landscapes; sports team photographs including Hallie Q. Brown basketball team; views of I.B.M. Rochester; Christmas scenes; sporting events including Saint Paul Academy track and state track meet; dinners including T.S.T.C dinner; winter scenes; church programs including a play about Black minister and educator Richard Allen and a St. James Bible School program; Eastern Star dance; NAACP meetings including one with June Shagaloff; weddings; Saint Paul Academy play; Selma march at Minnesota State Capitol; birthday parties; musicians including the band the Mustangs; hospitals; dental offices; choirs; building interiors; civil rights marches; youth rally; bowling team; school vandalism; house interiors; American Legion officers; Boy Scouts event; complaint shot for NAACP; note to McGee's son at Saint Paul Academy expressing race hatred; concerts; picnics including an equal opportunity picnic and a Loafers, Inc. picnic at Phalen; Hallie Q. Brown Camera Club display at Y.W.C.A | |||||||||||
Digital version
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| Album 359 | 1 album (68 sheets of photographs): black and white; 29 cm. | ||||||||||
| Content summary: | |||||||||||
| Dated December 1965-July 1966. Includes: individual portraits and family portraits; classroom scenes; dances including American Legion dance at Vets Hall; B'Hai's World Peace Institute; fog scenes; winter scenes; street views; sports team photographs; graduation photographs; concerts including Marshall Choir spring concert; Urban League events including a career day at Hamline; Gordon Parks including a group photograph with the Hallie Q. Brown Camera Club; school children; baptisms; dinners including Marshall M Club Banquet and N.C.C.J. Pie Award and dinner; St. Paul Cathedral; NAACP Youth Queens; sporting events including state track meet; American Legion events; musicians; weddings; school board meeting; NAACP demonstration at the Minnesota Capitol; state Democratic and Republican political conventions; miscellaneous University of Minnesota campus shots; Christ Temple mortgage burning; Loafers, Inc. golf tournament. | |||||||||||
Digital version
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CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- African Americans -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul -- Photographs.
- African Americans -- Minnesota -- Rochester -- Photographs.
- African Americans -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul -- Social life and customs -- Photographs.
- African Americans -- Minnesota -- Rochester -- Social life and customs -- Photographs.
- African Americans -- Civil rights -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul -- Photographs.
- African Americans -- Civil rights -- Minnesota -- Rochester -- Photographs.
- Civil rights -- Minnesota -- Saint Paul -- Photographs.
- Civil rights -- Minnesota -- Rochester -- Photographs.
- Places:
- Saint Paul (Minn.) -- Social life and customs -- 1945-1980.
- Rochester (Minn.) -- Social life and customs -- 1945-1980.
- Document Types:
- Photograph albums.
- Photographs.
- Portraits.
- Albums (Books).
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