The Teenie Harris Archive
Stumbling upon photographer Teenie Harris was a fortuitous piece of luck while reading David Maraniss’ biography of baseball great Roberto Clemente, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero.
Nicknamed “One Shot” because he rarely made a subject sit through retakes, Charles “Teenie” Harris (1908-1998) photographed Pittsburgh’s African American community at his photography studio and from 1936 until 1975 as a staffer with the Pittsburgh Courier, one of America’s oldest local black newspapers.
In his dual capacities as commercial and news photographer, Harris photographed both celebrities (Earl Hines, Lena Horne, Harry Truman, Jackie Robinson) and local figures. Collectively, his work provides an emotively vibrant group portrait of a community’s everyday life as played out against the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras. (According to Jonathan Gaugler at the Carnegie Museum of Art, women in the community would stop by Harris’ studio immediately after they got their hair done, sit down and turn away from the camera. They had come for portraits of their new hairdos, and Harris obliged.)
In 2001, the Carnegie Museum of Art was entrusted with the Teenie Harris Archive of nearly 80,000 negatives. Almost 1,000 images can be viewed on the museum’s website.
Fun fact: dozens of Harris’ images capture Negro League baseball players from the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, a team for which Harris himself played when they were the Crawford Colored Giants.
jaw3:
“Duke Ellington at piano, with dancer Honey Coles and Billy Strayhorn looking on, in the Stanley Theatre” by Teenie Harris (c. 1942-1943) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Three women, one wearing dark sweater with two daschund appliques, posed around a suitcase in front of brick building, 1940s. Charles “Teenie” Harris, photographer. Teenie Harris Photograph Collection, 1920-1970, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
(via hollyhocksandtulips)
jaw3:
“Three men and a woman at a restaurant counter” by Teenie Harris (c. 1948–1960) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Today is the last day to see the incredible Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story exhibit at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art.
Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, and Donn Clendenon
![Two girls with former slave Sabre “Mother” Washington, Pittsburgh, early 1950s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]
One of the girls, a neighbor of Washington’s, discovered the photograph years later. Washington, who grew up in South Carolina before moving to Pittsburgh, passed away in 1960 at the age of 113.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2119h1q9S1qakblyo1_500.jpg)
Two girls with former slave Sabre “Mother” Washington, Pittsburgh, early 1950s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]
One of the girls, a neighbor of Washington’s, discovered the photograph years later. Washington, who grew up in South Carolina before moving to Pittsburgh, passed away in 1960 at the age of 113.
![Two women, possibly including Barbara Jones on right, standing on stairs in front of trees, Pittsburgh, 1940s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m209rnRYvW1qakblyo1_500.png)
Two women, possibly including Barbara Jones on right, standing on stairs in front of trees, Pittsburgh, 1940s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]
![Man seated between cross-dressers “Gilda,” and unknown wearing Caribbean-style costume with Christmas ornaments in headdress, at bar in Pittsburgh, 1940s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1vmc8FVqR1qakblyo1_r1_500.png)
Man seated between cross-dressers “Gilda,” and unknown wearing Caribbean-style costume with Christmas ornaments in headdress, at bar in Pittsburgh, 1940s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]
Debs About Town members, posed on step outside of the University of Pittsburgh’s Falk School, 1941 (via)
This is the last week to see Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art. I’ll be posting a Teenie Harris photo each day this week — some are currently on exhibit, and all are from the Carnegie’s vast online collection of images.
![Checkered Lunch restaurant, 1625 Centre Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, c. 1960 [Carnegie Museum of Art]
Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story: Carnegie Museum of Art, on exhibit until April 7, 2012
UPDATE: Admission to the Carnegie is free tonight!
TONIGHT: Take advantage of the last FREE Thursday night in March at Carnegie Museum of Art! Three members of the African-American poetry organization Cave Canem will read in the galleries before a backdrop of projected images by Charles “Teenie” Harris followed by a reception with a cash bar. Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story is only on view through April 7!](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1ngew2Rdk1qakblyo1_500.jpg)
Checkered Lunch restaurant, 1625 Centre Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, c. 1960 [Carnegie Museum of Art]
Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story: Carnegie Museum of Art, on exhibit until April 7, 2012
UPDATE: Admission to the Carnegie is free tonight!
TONIGHT: Take advantage of the last FREE Thursday night in March at Carnegie Museum of Art! Three members of the African-American poetry organization Cave Canem will read in the
galleries before a backdrop of projected images by Charles “Teenie” Harris followed by a reception with a cash bar. Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story is only on view through April 7!
Photo: Charlene’s birthday party at the Crawford Grill, with singer Boots Parker and Marion (Courier employee) attending; Carnegie Museum of Art - Teenie Harris Photograph Collection,c. 1930 - 1940.
For over 40 years, Charles “Teenie” Harris (1908 - 1988) — as lead photographer of the influential Pittsburgh Courier newspaper — took almost 80,000 pictures of people from all walks: presidents, housewives, sports stars, babies, civil rights leaders and drag queens.
Harris chronicled the daily lives of Pittsburgh’s African American citizens as well as the rich, famous and powerful. During his career, he photographed Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Nat King Cole and Lena Horne.
An archive of Teenie Harris’ work is available online.
The Teenie Harris Archive
Stumbling upon photographer Teenie Harris was a fortuitous piece of luck while reading David Maraniss’ biography of baseball great Roberto Clemente, Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero.
Nicknamed “One Shot” because he rarely made a subject sit through retakes, Charles “Teenie” Harris (1908-1998) photographed Pittsburgh’s African American community at his photography studio and from 1936 until 1975 as a staffer with the Pittsburgh Courier, one of America’s oldest local black newspapers.
In his dual capacities as commercial and news photographer, Harris photographed both celebrities (Earl Hines, Lena Horne, Harry Truman, Jackie Robinson) and local figures. Collectively, his work provides an emotively vibrant group portrait of a community’s everyday life as played out against the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras. (According to Jonathan Gaugler at the Carnegie Museum of Art, women in the community would stop by Harris’ studio immediately after they got their hair done, sit down and turn away from the camera. They had come for portraits of their new hairdos, and Harris obliged.)
In 2001, the Carnegie Museum of Art was entrusted with the Teenie Harris Archive of nearly 80,000 negatives. Almost 1,000 images can be viewed on the museum’s website.
Fun fact: dozens of Harris’ images capture Negro League baseball players from the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, a team for which Harris himself played when they were the Crawford Colored Giants.
jaw3:
“Duke Ellington at piano, with dancer Honey Coles and Billy Strayhorn looking on, in the Stanley Theatre” by Teenie Harris (c. 1942-1943) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Three women, one wearing dark sweater with two daschund appliques, posed around a suitcase in front of brick building, 1940s. Charles “Teenie” Harris, photographer. Teenie Harris Photograph Collection, 1920-1970, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
(via hollyhocksandtulips)
![Pittsburgh nightclub, by Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2r5ea8rtQ1qakblyo1_500.jpg)
![Pittsburgh, 1959. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1kk5txqdJ1qakblyo1_r1_500.jpg)
jaw3:
“Three men and a woman at a restaurant counter” by Teenie Harris (c. 1948–1960) © 2006 Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Today is the last day to see the incredible Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story exhibit at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art.
Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, and Donn Clendenon
![Two girls with former slave Sabre “Mother” Washington, Pittsburgh, early 1950s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]
One of the girls, a neighbor of Washington’s, discovered the photograph years later. Washington, who grew up in South Carolina before moving to Pittsburgh, passed away in 1960 at the age of 113.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2119h1q9S1qakblyo1_1280.jpg)
Two girls with former slave Sabre “Mother” Washington, Pittsburgh, early 1950s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]
One of the girls, a neighbor of Washington’s, discovered the photograph years later. Washington, who grew up in South Carolina before moving to Pittsburgh, passed away in 1960 at the age of 113.
![Two women, possibly including Barbara Jones on right, standing on stairs in front of trees, Pittsburgh, 1940s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m209rnRYvW1qakblyo1_1280.png)
Two women, possibly including Barbara Jones on right, standing on stairs in front of trees, Pittsburgh, 1940s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]
![Johnny Gator’s barbershop, Pittsburgh, c. 1950. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1yxnzDzC91qakblyo1_500.jpg)
Man seated between cross-dressers “Gilda,” and unknown wearing Caribbean-style costume with Christmas ornaments in headdress, at bar in Pittsburgh, 1940s. Teenie Harris. [Carnegie Museum of Art]
Debs About Town members, posed on step outside of the University of Pittsburgh’s Falk School, 1941 (via)
This is the last week to see Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum of Art. I’ll be posting a Teenie Harris photo each day this week — some are currently on exhibit, and all are from the Carnegie’s vast online collection of images.
Checkered Lunch restaurant, 1625 Centre Avenue in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, c. 1960 [Carnegie Museum of Art]
Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story: Carnegie Museum of Art, on exhibit until April 7, 2012
UPDATE: Admission to the Carnegie is free tonight!
TONIGHT: Take advantage of the last FREE Thursday night in March at Carnegie Museum of Art! Three members of the African-American poetry organization Cave Canem will read in the
galleries before a backdrop of projected images by Charles “Teenie” Harris followed by a reception with a cash bar. Teenie Harris, Photographer: An American Story is only on view through April 7!
Photo: Charlene’s birthday party at the Crawford Grill, with singer Boots Parker and Marion (Courier employee) attending; Carnegie Museum of Art - Teenie Harris Photograph Collection,c. 1930 - 1940.
For over 40 years, Charles “Teenie” Harris (1908 - 1988) — as lead photographer of the influential Pittsburgh Courier newspaper — took almost 80,000 pictures of people from all walks: presidents, housewives, sports stars, babies, civil rights leaders and drag queens.
Harris chronicled the daily lives of Pittsburgh’s African American citizens as well as the rich, famous and powerful. During his career, he photographed Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy, Nat King Cole and Lena Horne.
An archive of Teenie Harris’ work is available online.
