Charles W. White papers
name: label: Creator
content: White, Charles (1918-1979)
label: Names
content: Belafonte Enterprises
label: Names
content: Heritage Gallery
label: Names
content: Otis Art Institute
label: Names
content: Barthé, Richmond, 1901-1989
label: Names
content: Catlett, Elizabeth (1915-2012)
label: Names
content: White, Frances Barrett
topic: label: Occupation
content: Painters -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Occupation
content: Printmakers -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Occupation
content: Educators -- California -- Los Angeles
label: Topic
content: African American artists
label: Topic
content: African American educators
label: Topic
content: African American painters
label: Topic
content: African American printmakers
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Photographs on reel LA7 and material on reel 3099 were lent to the Archives of American Art for microfilming in 1965 and 1982, by Benjamin Horowitz, White's dealer, and by Frances White. Material on reel 2041 was donated by the George Arents Research Library, Syracuse University, 1976, who had originally received it from Horowitz. The remainder of the papers were donated by Charles White, 1975-1978, and after his death by Frances White and Benjamin Horowitz, 1981-1989.
creator: label: Creator
content: White, Charles (1918-1979)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Charles W. White papers
abstract: label: Summary
content: The papers of Los Angeles painter, printmaker, and educator, Charles W. White, measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1970s. The collection contains biographical material, including a sound recording of an interview with White; personal and professional correspondence; writings by White and others about his philosophy of art, his life, and career; professional files documenting White's participation in a variety of boards, committees, juries, symposiums, professional projects, and commissions; teaching files documenting White's tenure at Otis Art Institute; extensive printed material charting White's career from the 1930s until his death; scrapbooks primarily documenting his early career; and a small series of photographs.
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Painter, printmaker, and educator, Charles W. White (1918-1979), was a prominent figure in the Chicago Black Renaissance and became one of the most celebrated and influential African American artists of the twentieth century. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, White lived and worked in California beginning in 1956, and taught at the Otis Art Institute from 1965 until his death.


White began painting at a young age, earning first prize in a nationwide high school art contest. He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he was awarded a full scholarship, from 1937-1938. After graduating from the school, White worked as a muralist for the Illinois Federal Arts Project sponsored by the Works Progress Administration from 1939 to 1940. He then received two fellowships from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation in 1942 and 1943 and created the mural The Contribution of the Negro to American Democracy at the Hampton Institute. From 1943-1945 he taught at the George Washington Carver School in New York City, and was artist-in-residence at Howard University in Washington, D.C., in 1945. 


White's first marriage to Elizabeth Catlett ended in divorce and he married Frances Barrett in 1950. The couple relocated to Los Angeles where White was represented by Benjamin Horowitz's Heritage Gallery. White was widely exhibited in Los Angeles, and at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Newark Museum, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and elsewhere. Working primarily in black and white or sepia and white drawings, paintings, and lithographs, White's artwork was primarily figurative and depicted African American history, socio-economic struggles, and human relationships. 


Charles White received a number of awards and honors and in 1972 he was the third African American artist to be elected a full member of the National Academy of Design.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 12.9 Linear Feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1933-1987
label: Date
content: bulk 1960s-1970s
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.whitchar
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Interviews
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: The collection is arranged as nine series.

Series 1: Biographical Material, circa 1934-1979 (Box 1; 0.2 linear feet)

Series 2: Correspondence, 1937-1984 (Boxes 1-4, 13; 3.64 linear feet)

Series 3: Writings, 1936-circa 1981 (Boxes 4-5; 0.45 linear feet)

Series 4: Professional Activities, circa 1942-1982 (Boxes 5-6, 13, OV 15; 1.81 linear feet)

Series 5: Teaching Files, 1950-1979 (Boxes 6, 13; 0.72 linear feet)

Series 6: Gallery and Exhibition Files, 1946-1980 (Box 7, Box 14; 0.98 linear feet)

Series 7: Printed Material, 1933-1987 (Boxes 8-14, OVs 15-17; 4.8 linear feet)

Series 8: Scrapbooks, 1936-1970s (Box 12; 0.15 linear feet)

Series 9: Photographic Material, 1940-1976 (Box 12; 0.15 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The collection was minimally processed and a finding aid prepared by Rayna Andrews in 2019 with funding from the Henry Luce Foundation. The collection was further processed in preparation for digitization by Stephanie Ashley in 2019, and was digitized in 2020-2021 with funding from the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
altformavail: label: Existence and Location of Copies
content: The bulk of the collection was digitized in 2020-2021 and is available on the Archives of American Art's website. 

Material lent for microfilming is available on 35mm microfilm reels LA7 and 3099 at Archives of American Art offices and through interlibrary loan.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Interviews
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
otherfindaid: label: Other Finding Aids
content: A list of subject files on microfilm reels 3190-3195 is available at all Archives of American Art offices.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The papers of Los Angeles painter, printmaker, and educator, Charles W. White, measure 12.9 linear feet and date from 1933 to 1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1960s to the 1970s. The collection contains biographical material including a sound recording of an interview with White; personal and professional correspondence; writings by White and others about his philosophy of art, his life, and career; professional files documenting White's participation in a variety of boards, committees, juries, symposiums, professional projects, and commissions; teaching files documenting White's tenure at Otis Art Institute; extensive printed material charting White's career from the 1930s until his death; scrapbooks primarily documenting his early career; and a small series of photographs.  


Biographical material includes documentation of awards received by White, biographical notes, resumes, White's high school report cards, interview transcripts and a sound recording of an interview, and records related to Elizabeth Catlett from the 1940s.

Correspondence includes scattered letters from family and friends but is primarily professional. White's correspondence was often conducted by Benjamin Horowitz and, occasionally, by Frances White, although some scattered original drafts of letters by White can also be found in this series. The series documents many aspects of White's career including: his relationship with Horowitz and Heritage Gallery as his representative; sales, loans, and exhibitions of White's artwork at many museums, galleries, and art institutions; the publication of his work in journals, magazines, and books, and it's use in the film and music industries; and his relationships with others in the arts and the entertainment industry including Richmond Barthé, Margaret Burroughs, Bing Davis, David Driskell, Lorraine Hansberry, and Harry Belafonte's company, Belafonte Enterprises.   

Writings by White include two addresses made to the Annual Conference of Negro Artists, statements on his philosophy of art, and an autobiographical essay.  Writings by others include drafts of Benjamin Horowitz's book Images of Dignity:The Drawings of Charles White. 

White's professional activities are further documented through records related to the many boards, committees, and exhibition and art contest juries he served on, as well as lectures he delivered, and panels and symposiums he participated in. White's professional files also contain records relating to fellowships he received and document projects such as designs for books, films, and magazines.  

White's teaching files primarily relate to Otis Art Institute and contain some records related directly to his work there as well as general faculty and board material. The records document, to some extent, White's role as spokesperson for the faculty and students during the transfer of the Otis charter to Parsons School of Design in 1979.  Documentation of White's association with Howard University is minimal and includes letters related to his appointment and resignation in 1978-1979.

Gallery and exhibition files document specific solo and group exhibitions and include records on two visits White made to Germany in 1974 and 1978. 

Printed material includes announcements, exhibition catalogs, articles in journals, magazines, and news clippings, and publications with artwork by White that provide extensive coverage of White's career from the 1930s to his death. Also found is printed material collected by White on other artists, and on subjects of interest to him.

Three disbound scrapbooks provide compilations of printed material and occasional letters further documenting White's career. A small series of photographs includes holiday card photos of White, Frances White, and their two children, and photos of White and others taken at a workshop in 1969.

Throughout the collection there are folders containing notes written by Frances White, circa 1980-1981, which provide important contextual information about people, organizations and subjects in the collection, and sometimes highlight the racism White encountered, particularly during his early career. The dates of these notes are not included in folder dates.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds the Charles W. and Frances White letters and photographs to Melvin and Lorraine Williamson, the Lucinda H. Gedeon research material on Charles W. White, and an oral history interview with Charles W. White conducted by Betty Hoag, March 9, 1965.
separatedmaterial: label: Separated Materials
content: The Archives of American Art also holds microfilm of loaned materials (reels LA7 and 3099). Reel LA7 includes photographs of White, his work, and a career resume. Reel 3099 contains 31 items consisting of three travel diaries kept by Frances White, photographs and a recording of their trip to Russia in 1950, and 11 record album covers designed by Charles White. Loaned materials were returned to the lenders after microfilming and are not described in the collection container inventory. 

Charles White's "Black Experience Archive," originally received with the papers, was donated to Howard University's Moorland-Springarn Research Center in 1985 at the request of Frances White.