G. Dwoyid Olmstead Photonegatives
name: label: Photographer
content: Olmstead, G. Dwoyid (Gilbert Dwoyid), 1914-1985
label: Donor
content: Williams, Sydney Olmstead
place: label: Place
content: Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- 1940-1950
label: Place
content: Hill District (Pittsburgh, Pa.) -- 1940-1950
label: Place
content: Los Angeles (Calif.) -- 1940-1950
topic: label: Topic
content: African American photographers
label: Topic
content: Clergy -- Protestant -- 1940-1950
label: Topic
content: Strikes and lockouts -- 1940-1950 -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsurgh
label: Topic
content: Labor and laboring classes -- 1940-1950 -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
label: Topic
content: Labor Day -- 1940-1950 -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: This collection was donated by Sydney Olmstead Williams, December 5, 1986.
creator: label: Photographer
content: Olmstead, G. Dwoyid (Gilbert Dwoyid), 1914-1985
label: Donor
content: Williams, Sydney Olmstead
setName: label: See more items in
content: G. Dwoyid Olmstead Photonegatives
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Olmstead was an African-American photographer who worked in the Hill District ghetto area of Pittsburgh, Pa. in the early 1940s. He was born in Steubenville, Ohio, in March 1914 (he did not include the day in his Rosenwald fellowship application). He was self-taught as a photographer, but later, with the support of Roy Stryker, attended the Art Center School. He received a Rosenwald fellowship in 1946. Olmstead was inspired by Life Magazine photojournalist Gordon Parks. He photographed until the 1960s while working for the Department of Water and Power in Los Angeles. He died August 17, 1985, following a long illness.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.3 Cubic feet (2 vertical boxes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: ca. 1941-1949.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0270
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Photographs
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is arranged by subject.
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by David Haberstich, 2008
altformavail: label: Alternate Form Available
content: Contact prints from negatives made by SI/OPPS. Available in the Archives Center.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film -- 1940-1950
otherfindaid: label: Other Finding Aids
content: Inventory available; contact the Archives Center for more information.
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: The collection contains one hundred seventy eight (178) film photonegatives by G. Dwoyid Olmstead in 4 x 5 in. sheet and cut film and 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. (#120) rollfilm sizes; the rollfilm negatives are cut apart into either individual frames or double image strips. Most of the photographs were taken in the early 1940s in the Hill District, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and include pictures of the black citizens of the area in scenes of everyday life, children at play, interiors and exteriors of houses, etc. Olmstead told his friends that 'he felt it was important to capture on camera the living conditions of the residents there. There are also pictures of a Labor Day parade by striking members of the Westinghouse U.E.R.M.W.A. union, of the AFL/CIO) and related subjects. Marks on the original envelopes seem to indicate that some pictures in the group were taken in Los Angeles (AL.A.@). Many of the negatives are stained blue, and are identified as "blue" on the Container List. All the negatives seem to be on safety film, with "safety" imprints on the sheet film negatives.

The original negatives are supplemented with a set of "non-vintage" enlargements and contact prints, made primarily by the Smithsonian Office of Printing and Photographic Services.