Harlem on My Mind exhibition records
name: label: Creator
content: Schoener, Allon
label: Names
content: Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, N.Y.)
label: Names
content: Rangel, Charles B.
label: Names
content: Van Ellison, Candace
topic: label: Occupation
content: Authors
label: Topic
content: Exhibitions
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The papers were donated to the Archives of American Art in 2009 by Allon Schoener.
creator: label: Creator
content: Schoener, Allon
setName: label: See more items in
content: Harlem on My Mind exhibition records
abstract: label: Summary
content: The Harlem on My Mind exhibition records measure 3.0 linear feet and 0.371 GB and date from 1966-2007. The records contain exhibition and book files, correspondence, research material, printed and digital material and photographs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition. Also included is material documenting additional exhibitions, conferences and events relating to the original exhibition.
bioghist: label: Biographical Note
content: Allon Schoener (1926-2022) was a writer, cultural historian, consultant, and organizer of exhibitions that focus on topics such as African Americans, Italian Americans, Jewish Americans, and the history of the Lower East Side. His best known exhibition was the highly controversial show "Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America." A graduate of Yale University, he lived in Los Angeles.

"Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968" was a 1969 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art organized by Allon Schoener. The exhibition documented life in Harlem through the use of photographs, film and audio recordings. It was created under the directorship of Thomas Hoving and contributed to the exhibition model commonly known as the "blockbuster" show.

At the time, the exhibition was much reviled, having received harsh criticism from critics, politicians, and the public alike. The initial spark was an essay in the accompanying book by 17-year-old Harlem high school student Candice Van Ellison. The essay contained prejudicial remarks about members of the Jewish, Irish and Puerto Rican communities. The book was quickly removed from the Museum and pulled from bookshelves by the publisher.

Additional criticism focused on several key issues, including the exhibition's multimedia platform; the lack of paintings and sculptures, particularly by African-American artists; and a thematic presentation that used documentary techniques that focused on sociological and cultural issues. Such criticism was compounded by the Harlem Cultural Council's withdrawal of support.

Schoener wrote that the objective of the exhibition was to "demonstrate that the black community in Harlem is a major cultural environment with enormous strength and potential? that this community has made major contributions to the mainstream of American culture in music, theater and literature." The exhibition documented Harlem from its beginnings in the early 20th century as a prosperous white neighborhood, through the influx of southern African-Americans, up to the civil rights movements of the late 1960s.

After the original exhibition ended, Schoener spent the next several decades working intermittently on re-creations of the exhibition, some of which failed to see fruition. Others succeeded, culminating as shows at Columbia University and the I. P. Stanback Museum. Schoener participated in numerous panel discussions, events and conferences, including the Schomburg Center and Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).

His book, Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, was reissued after a prolonged struggle to obtain the rights from its original publisher. Editions were published in 1979, 1995 and 2007, with forewords by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 3 Linear Feet
label: Extent
content: 0.371 Gigabytes
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1966-2007
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives of American Art
identifier: label: Identifier
content: AAA.schoallo
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Gigabytes
label: Type
content: Awards
label: Type
content: Photographs
label: Type
content: Sound recordings
label: Type
content: Scrapbooks
label: Type
content: Notes
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: Most material is arranged chornologically unless noted otherwise in the series description.

The Harlem on My Mind exhibition records are organized into 6 series.

Series 1: Correspondence, 1967-2007 (Box 1; 0.4 linear feet)

Series 2: Exhibition Files,  -- Harlem on My Mind -- , Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1967-1969 (Box 1; 0.9 linear feet, ER01; 0.371 GB)

Series 3:  -- Harlem on My Mind --  Re-creation, 1978-2007 (Box 1-2; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 4:  -- Harlem on My Mind --  Book, 1967-2007 (Box 2; 0.3 linear feet)

Series 5: Conferences and Events, 1978-2007 (Box 2-3; 0.8 linear feet)

Series 6: Printed Material, 1968-2007 (Box 3; 0.3 linear feet)
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: The papers were processed by Justin Brancato in 2010. Born-digital materials were processed by Kirsi Ritosalmi-Kisner in 2019 with funding provided by Smithsonian Collection Care and Preservation Fund.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Awards
label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs
label: Genre/Form
content: Sound recordings
label: Genre/Form
content: Scrapbooks
label: Genre/Form
content: Notes
scopecontent: label: Scope and Content Note
content: The "Harlem on My Mind" exhibition records measure 3.0 linear feet and 0.371 GB and date from 1966-2007. The records contain exhibition and book files, correspondence, research material, printed and digital material and photographs from the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition. Also included is material documenting additional exhibitions, conferences and events relating to the original exhibition.

Correspondence, 1967-2007, concerns all aspects of production and coordination of the Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibition, the public's response to the controversial Candice Van Ellison catalog introduction, letters of support, the 10th Anniversary celebration, and a letter from U.S. Representative Charles B. Rangel.

Exhibition files for the original "Harlem on My Mind" exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1968-1969, include awards, budgets, construction and installation notes, floor plans, an installation log, invoices, notes, photographs, public relations, schedules, research, statistics, printed material and audio relating to the exhibition.

"Harlem on My Mind" exhibition re-creation files from 1978-2007 contain correspondence, project outline, and exhibition files including Harlem: USA/International Traveling Exhibition and Cultural Festival, 1985-1987; Columbia University Exhibition, 2006-2007; and I. P. Stanback Museum Exhibition, 2006-2007.

Harlem on My Mind book files, 1967-2007, consist of correspondence, invoices, outline, permissions, royalty statements, notes and writings.

Conferences and events, 1978-2007, include: "Harlem: The Last Ten Years," International Center of Photography, 1978-1979; Post Modernism Conference, Brooklyn Academy of Music; "Global Cities," 1985-1992, Schomburg Conference, 1993-1999; "A Walk Through Harlem," Schomburg Center, 1999; "The (Un)making of the Black Cultural Mecca," the New School, 2003; "Harlem Displaced" and "Harlem in Our Eyes," Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute, 1999-2006; and "Harlem Then and Now," Schomburg Center, 2007.

Printed material, 1968-2007, includes newspaper and magazine clippings, three editions of Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America 1900-1968 (1979, 1995 and 2007), and the book jacket for the 1968 edition.