<I>Pearl Primus, Speak to the River</I>
date: label: Date
content: 1944
name: label: Photograph by
content: Barbara Morgan, American, 1900 - 1992
label: Subject of
content: Pearl Primus, Trinidadian, 1919 - 1994
notes: label: Description
content: A black-and-white gelatin silver photograph titled “Pearl Primus, Speak to Me of Rivers” by Barbara Morgan. The photograph captures Pearl Primus, a modern dancer, in motion while performing Langston Hughes’s poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” at the Belasco Theatre, New York City in October 1944.
label: Description
content: The performance is on a flat surface and before a wall darkened by shadows. Primus is crouched low, facing away from the viewer, toward the wall. Her arms are extended diagonally, with her proper right arm low and towards the back and her proper left arm high and towards the camera. Her proper left hand is stretched to show her palm. Primus is wearing either a full length garment or long flowy skirt and her flexed left foot is peeking out the bottom of the garment. The lights create two shadows of Primus against the wall.
label: Description
content: The front of the photograph is signed by the photographer in pencil on the lower right corner of the mount [Barbara Morgan 1944]. On the back, the photographer and title are written in pencil in the upper left corner "Barbara Morgan, Pearl Primus, Speak to the River." At the bottom center is a sticker for the Barbara Morgan Dance Portfolio.
place: label: Place captured
content: Manhattan, New York City, New York County, New York, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Modern dance
label: Topic
content: Photography
label: Topic
content: Poetry
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Photographs and Still Images
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of the Estate of Carroll Parrott Blue
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2023.39.33.1
objectType: label: Type
content: gelatin silver prints
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: © Barbara Morgan
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 10 3/8 × 13 1/2 in. (26.4 × 34.3 cm)
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (mat): 16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm)