Like a Study in Black History: P. H. Polk, Chester Higgins and The Black Photographers Annual, Volume 2

In the second volume of The Black Photographers Annual, editor and publisher Joe Crawford included an interview with P. H. Polk (1898–1984), the official photographer at Tuskegee University for nearly 50 years. Accompanied by a portfolio of Polk’s photographs, the entry began with this quote: “A number of students at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama told The Black Photographers Annual that looking at the works of P. H. Polk was like a study in Black history.” It was Chester Higgins, a student at Tuskegee, who introduced Polk’s work to the Annual.

This exhibition pairs Polk’s photographs with a selection of the early work of Higgins, who went on to greater notoriety as staff photographer for the New York Times. Their images illustrate the Annual’s commitment to publish the works of contemporary photographers while simultaneously recovering and preserving the work of previous generations.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website