Harry Shepherd: African American Photography Pioneer

The Parthenon features an exhibit of the work of Harry Shepher, an African American photography pioneer. His work was featured at the Tennessee Centennial Exhibition in 1897, and he was among the Decorative Arts winners.

From St. Paul, Minnesota,  Shepherd was nationally noted for his photography and activism. His profitable St. Paul studio served clientele of all races including the Minnesota State Legislature, educator Booker T. Washington, and Washington’s Tuskegee Institute. In 1899, his seminal photo collage, Our Unsung Heroes, created a visual interpretation of African-American history demanding social equality. This work attracted the attention of activist W.E.B. Dubois and others who selected Shepherd to be an official photographer for the landmark American Negro Exhibit at the 1900 Paris International Exposition.

With its title taken from a slogan printed on his Victorian era cabinet cards, This is the Original and Only Harry Shepherd celebrates Shepherd’s story and work with enlarged reproductions from the collections of Library of Congress,  the Minnesota Historical Society, and video from the Minnesota Public Television documentary, Harry Shepherd: Portrait of Progress.

The exhibit will open on Saturday, March 31st, and remain in the Parthenon’s West Gallery through Sunday, July 8th.

On Thursday, April 26th from 6pm to 8pm, please join Nashville Arts publisher Paul Polycarpou, Parthenon exhibit curator Mark Medley, and Jamaal Sheats, the Director and Curator of Fisk University Galleries, for a discussion of Harry Shepherd and the history of African-American photography.

For more information call 615/ 862-8431 or visit www.parthenon.org.