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Collections
Ralph J. Bunche photograph collection
Ralph J. Bunche photograph collection
Collection Data
- Description
- The Ralph J. Bunche Photograph Collection depicts some aspects of his personal life and his professional career as an academic researcher and diplomat, from the late 1800s to the 1980s.The collection consists of individual and group studio portraits, candid shots and snapshots of Bunche; his wife, Ruth; his children Jane, Joan and Ralph, Jr.; members of their family and friends; and assorted political, military and diplomatic figures. Included are views of family vacations, diplomatic missions, anthropological trips, social functions and conferences. Many snapshot images of friends, family trips and anthropological views from the 1930s are attached to photo album pages, which are placed throughout the collection. Views of his academic career are limited to his field research; his work with Gunnar Myrdal, the Office of the Coordinator of Information, and his civil rights activities are not depicted. The personal photograph series includes a studio portrait of Bunche as a small child (1905); a group portrait of Bunche, his sister Grace, his aunt Ethel Johnson, and Alma Dreyfus, uncle Thomas Johnson's fiancee, in Los Angeles (1919); a studio portrait of Lucy Taylor Johnson, Bunche's grandmother, in her wedding gown (1875); individual studio portraits of Fred and Olive Bunch, Bunche's parents (Bunche added an "e" to his last name as a teenager) (ca. 1900s); a group of portraits and snapshots depicting Bunche's uncles Charles and Thomas Johnson and aunts Nellie and Ethel Johnson (ca. 1900-1962); a group portrait of the Bunch family with relatives and friends at Belle Isle, in Detroit (1907); a group portrait of Ruth Harris with her mother and younger brother (ca. 1910); studio portraits of Ruth, possibly as an adolescent (ca. 1920s) and as a young adult (1929); photo album snapshots of Bunche at Harvard, posing with classmate William Hastie (1927-1928); and a studio portrait of Bunche at the time he attended Harvard (1929). Other personal photographs include snapshots of Ruth with the Bunches' young daughters, Joan and Jane (1930s); views of Bunche and his family during the sail over and stay in England (1937); a studio portrait of Ralph, Ruth, Jean, Joan and Ralph, Jr. (ca. 1950s); views of Bunche and his family saying goodbye as he departs on unidentified flight (ca. 1950s); Bunche, Joan and Ralph, Jr. visiting set of the film "The Time Machine" at Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer studios (1959); a series of snapshots of Ralph and Ruth (1960s); and views of Bunche, Ruth and Ralph, Jr. on a visit to Japan (ca. 1960). The series also includes views of Ruth Bunche attending various receptions, tours and social gatherings (1950s-1987), including award ceremonies and dedications to her late husband (mid-1970s to 1980s). The professional series includes views of Bunche's research trip to Togo (1932-1933), consisting of snapshots of various Togolese villagers, including lepers and victims of sleeping sickness; views of the inhabitants of various villages being given medical treatment by white doctors; exterior views and classroom views of various Togolese regional schools; and group portraits of the locally elected Council of Notables of the town of Lome. Another group of snapshots, probably compiled for Bunche's post-doctoral work in anthropology done in part at the University of Cape Town, South Africa (1937), includes views of Zulu dancers in Johannesburg; a wedding party in one of South Africa's Western native townships; views of Pygmies in the Congo's Ituri forest; views of villagers, village life, and regional and tribal leaders in various East African nations such as Uganda, Kenya and Zanzibar; and an assortment of images from the Pacific island of Bali and Japan. Views of Bunche's diplomatic career include a group of images depicting his participation in the 1948 Arab-Israeli Armistice Talks, including views of Bunche and head United Nations peace mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte; Bunche, as chairman, presiding over the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli Armistice Agreement on Rhodes, Greece (1949); assorted snapshot views of negotiators on Rhodes; and some views of the Rhodes negotiations. Another group of images depicts Bunche overseeing the formation of the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) during the 1956 Suez crisis, showing the arrival of Canadian, South American, European and Indian troops to Egypt; his inspection and meeting with troops; and meeting with military commanders and Egyptian officials (1956-1957). Other images include Bunche among the group of delegates at Dumbarton Oaks, in Washington, D.C., for the United Nations Conference on International Organization (1944); a group portrait with Bunche meeting members of the Negro Newspapers Association in Harry Villard's office at the Division of Africa Affairs, U.S. Department of State, just before the group's trip to West Africa (1945); Bunche attending the Fourth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, at Lake Success, New York (1946); being presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Lyndon Johnson, at the White House (1963); meeting Archbishop Makarios, president of Cyprus, at the U.N. (1964); and a number of images, many unidentified, depicting Bunche at various diplomatic functions, attending United Nations conferences, meeting with individual diplomatic or political figures, arriving at airports, and meeting with workers and citizens in foreign lands. The series also depicts some of Bunche's professional and civic activities outside diplomacy which include Bunche visiting St. Louis High School, Honolulu, Hawaii, to take part in a library lecture series (1966); being honored by the Boy Scouts of America at their 1969 National Jamboree in Idaho; addressing commencement exercises and being honored at various colleges and universities, including the University of California, Los Angeles, his alma mater, during the late-1940s to the 1960s; attending various banquets, luncheons and social gatherings, often accompanied by Ruth, and many of which were held in New York, during the 1950s and 1960s; and taking part in various forum groups including a New York Times youth forum moderated by writer Dorothy Gordon (1959). Also included are four photo albums given as gifts to Bunche including views of his visit to the Lincoln Center School in Poughkeepsie, New York (1949) and a pictorial work from the Jewish Agency for Palestine depicting Jewish settlement of that region (1947). Among some of the individuals either depicted with Bunche, visiting the U.N., or who were his professional colleagues or acquaintances include U.N. Secretaries-General Dag Hammarskjold and U Thant, U.S. Ambassadors to the U.N. Arthur Goldberg and Adlai Stevenson, U.S. Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, U.N. Middle East peace negotiator Folke Bernadotte, Coretta Scott King and her family, Roy Wilkins, Alain Locke, and the three crew members of the Apollo 11 moon flight. Some celebrities depicted include actors Rod Taylor and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., television show host Ed Sullivan, and performer Josephine Baker.
- Names
- Bunche, Ralph J. (Ralph Johnson), 1904-1971 (Creator)
- Agence Togo-Cameroun (Creator)
- Centralna Agencja Fotograficzna (Warsaw, Poland) (Photographer)
- Scurlock Studios (Washington, D.C.) (Photographer)
- United Nations (Creator)
- Bunche, Ralph J.(Ralph Johnson), 1904-1971 (Photographer)
- Adams, Harry H. (Photographer)
- Davis, Griffith J. (Photographer)
- Layne, Cecil (Photographer)
- Rosenthal, Leo. (Photographer)
- Dates / Origin
- Date Created: 1800 - 1987 (Questionable)
- Library locations
- Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division
- Shelf locator: Sc Photo Ralph J. Bunche Collection
- Topics
- Bunche, Ralph J. (Ralph Johnson), 1904-1971
- Bunche, Ruth Harris
- Pierce, Jane Bunche
- Bunche, Joan
- Bunche, Ralph
- Bernadotte, Folke, 1895-1948
- Gandhi, Indira, 1917-1984
- Goldberg, Arthur Daniel
- Hammarskjöld, Dag, 1905-1961
- Hastie, William, 1904-1976
- Johnson, Lyndon B. (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973
- Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963
- King, Coretta Scott, 1927-2006
- Locke, Alain, 1885-1954
- Makarios III, Archbishop of Cyprus, 1913-1977
- Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1884-1962
- Stevenson, Adlai E. (Adlai Ewing), 1900-1965
- Thant, U, 1909-1974
- Waldheim, Kurt
- United Nations
- United Nations -- Officials and employees
- United Nations Emergency Force
- African American diplomats
- African American families
- African American political scientists
- Statesmen -- United States
- African Americans -- Social life -- 1930-1979
- Diplomatic and consular service, American
- Heads of state
- Diplomatic negotiations in international disputes
- Rites and ceremonies -- 1940-1989
- Dedication services
- Graduation ceremonies -- United States -- 1940-1969
- Receptions -- 1940-1979
- Arab-Israeli conflict -- 1948-1967
- Anthropology -- Research
- Anthropologists -- United States
- Blacks -- Africa -- Social life and customs
- Togo -- Social life and customs
- South Africa -- Social life and customs
- Africa, East -- Social life and customs
- Bali Island (Indonesia) -- Social life and customs
- Genres
- Photographs
- Prints
- Notes
- Title devised by cataloger.
- Some photographs have photographer's or photography studio's handstamp on verso; some items have photographer's or photography studio's blind stamp on recto; some mounted photographs have photography studio's name printed or stamped on recto of mount.
- Many photographs bear handwritten notations on verso; some photographs have printed captions on verso; some items bear handwritten captions or inscriptions on recto; some photographs have typewritten captions attached to verso. Some items are attached to loose photo album pages and bear handwritten captions. Some items are duplicates.
- Collection contains work by Leo Rosenthal, Cecil Layne, Scurlock Studios, Centralna Agencja Fotograficzna, and Ralph Bunche, among others.
- Biographical/historical: Ralph Johnson Bunche, scholar and diplomat, was born on August 7, 1904 in Detroit, Michigan. He was educated at the University of California, Los Angeles (B.A. 1927), Harvard University (M.A. 1928, Ph.D. 1934), and did his post-doctoral work at Northwestern University, the London School of Economics and the University of Cape Town (1936-1938). He was married to Ruth Ethel Harris in 1930 and had three children.
- Biographical/historical: Bunche helped to establish the political science department at Howard University, where he taught from 1928-1938; was co-director of the Institute of Race Relations, Swarthmore College (1936); a founder of the National Negro Congress (1936); and assisted sociologist Gunnar Myrdal on the race treatise "An American Dilemma" (1938-1940). His diplomatic career included working as Africa researcher for the Office of the Coordinator of Information (later the Office of Strategic Services) (1941-1944); area specialist on Africa for the United States State Department (1944-1947); member of the U.S. delegation to United Nation's conference at Dumbarton Oaks (1945); advisor to U.S. delegation to the U.N. General Assembly (1946); director of U.N. Trusteeship Department (1948-1954); U.N. undersecretary (1955); U.N. undersecretary for special political affairs (1958-1967); and U.N. undersecretary-general (1967-1971). He also won the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for helping to negotiate a peace agreement between Israel and the Arab States in 1949. He died in New York City on December 9, 1971.
- Content: Forms part of the Ralph J. Bunche Papers, 1922-1988.
- Physical Description
- Halftone photomechanical prints
- Tintypes
- Extent: 2379 items (4.1 lin. ft., 13 boxes)
- Extent: 323 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ; 21 x 26 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 160 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ; 26 x 21 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 302 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ; 13 x 18 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 206 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ; 18 x 13 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 314 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ; 10 x 10 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 781 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ; 5 x 5 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 8 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ; 46 x 36 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 7 photographic prints : silver gelatin, b&w ; 31 x 51 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 60 photographic prints : col. ; 21 x 26 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 32 photographic prints : col. ; 26 x 21 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 74 photographic prints : col. ; 9 x 9 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 3 photographic prints : col. ; 28 x 36 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 4 photomechanical prints : halftone, b&w ; 25 x 48 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 1 photomechanical print : halftone, col. ; 7 x 15 cm.
- Extent: 1 illustration : col. ; 11 x 8 cm.
- Extent: 2 tintypes ; 11 x 7 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 1 card photograph : b&w ; 17 x 11 cm.
- Extent: 4 photographic postcards : b&w ; 14 x 9 cm and smaller.
- Extent: 56 slides : col. ; 5 x 5 cm.
- Extent: 47 negatives ; b&w, one col. ;10 x 6 cm and smaller.
- Organized into two series: I. Personal photographs, 1800s-1987; II. Professional career, 1930s-1971.
- Type of Resource
- Still image
- Identifiers
- RLIN/OCLC: NYPG98-F411
- NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b14985068
- Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 5147b540-f951-0139-5f66-0242ac110003
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