Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Index to the Scurlock Studio Records

Summary
Scurlock Studio Records
Scurlock Studio Records
Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0618
Creators:
Custom Craft
Scurlock Studio (Washington, D.C.)
Scurlock, George H. (Hardison), 1919-2005
Scurlock, Addison N., 1883-1964
Scurlock, Robert S. (Saunders), 1917-1994
Dates:
1888-1996
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
200 Cubic feet
Repository:
The collection includes approximately 250,000 photonegatives, photoprints, color transparencies from the photographic business founded by Addison Scurlock in Washington, DC. Collection also includes business records and ephemera.
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
Photographs includes portraits of famous African-American luminaries such as Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, and many other artists, intellectuals, educators, entertainers, etc., as well as documentation of Washington, DC, including both the African-American community and national political life, and important photographs of Howard University; also commercial photography, including color materials.
Color separation materials include sets of black-and-white color-separation negatives, sets of matrices for the Kodak Dye Transfer process (full-color Dye Transfer prints are storied in a different series).
Business records: The photography studio records and Custom Craft records are in separate series, reflecting the fact that they were operated as separate businesses.
The collection includes all forms of photographs produced by the studio, such as prints in black-and-white and color, black-and-white and color negatives, color transparencies, black-and-white dye-transfer matrices, slides, etc.; as well as business documents, studio session ledgers, appointment books, business and personal correspondence, tax documents, and books, catalogs, and other publications. This material documents not only the photographic output of the business, both commercial and artistic, as well as the personal and business side of the enterprise.
Some photographs in the collection were not created by the Scurlocks. Some black-and-white and color prints seem to derive from assignments in the Capitol School of Photography, and are therefore student work. Also Custom Craft, the professional color processing service provided by the studio, made prints for other photographers, and samples for printing reference, as well as studio decor, have been retained in the collection. Custom Craft worked for such diverse photographers as artist Robert Epstein and well-known Washington photographer Fred Maroon, for example.
The collection numbers several hundred thousand photographic negatives, prints, and transparencies made by the Scurlocks and other staff photographers of the studio in its various Washington locations. The negatives are estimated at approximately 160,000-200,000 in number, and the prints of all sizes and types at nearly 57,000. The vast majority of the photographs are portraits of individuals, family groups, and organizations, as the primary business of the studio was portrait photography. They date primarily from the 1940s to 1990s. There are also a number of images, made for commercial clients, of building interiors and exteriors, and food. A small group of photojournalistic documentation also exists. The subjects also include architectural and industrial views, scenes in and around Washington, including children and street laborers, political events, social events, and 35mm slides of President Kennedy's funeral, 1964. There are also more personal artistic images, including still lifes with plants and flowers, and a few nudes; Robert's wartime service is also documented by his photographs, including European landscape photographs.
In addition to images taken by the Scurlock studio photographers, there are some prints, especially color, of images by other photographers who were clients, such as Fred Maroon, a prominent Washington photojournalist, and Robert Epstein, a teacher at the Corcoran School of Art. A print of one of Maroon's pictures had been displayed in the studio reception room at the time the studio was closed.
A large group of manuscript items, business documents, ephemera, and office and studio supplies constitutes a separate series from the photographs. An important adjunct to the photographs, a set of ledgers recording and identifying portrait sittings, highlights this group.
Nearly all of the photographs and documents stored in the studio and auxiliary storage locations were accepted for acquisition in order to form a complete history of this family business's production and operations over the better part of a century, whereas a selection of photographic apparatus and studio equipment was acquired by the Photographic History Collection: these items have been inventoried and catalogued separately.
Studio Portraits
The majority of the surviving photographic negatives and proof prints were made in connection with the studio's portrait work for a wide variety of clients. These portraits include images of famous people, such as political figures, entertainers, and noteworthy persons in a variety of fields, including scientists, writers, intellectuals, and academics. The majority of the figures depicted among both the famous and the not so famous are black. The greatest number of studio portraits, most of which are identified and dated, depict a general clientele who visited the studio for portrait sittings. Although the individual images in this vast quantity have limited research value in the usual sense, the aggregate represents a chronology spanning almost ninety years, which may be useful for demographic and genealogical information and as visual evidence of changing styles in clothing, hair, and accessories. It constitutes a panorama of a significant percentage of Washingtonians of the period, especially the black community.
Portraits of famous personages include George Washington Carver, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Duke Ellington, Marian Anderson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Sammy Davis, Jr., Sugar Ray Leonard, Muhammad Ali, Mayor Walter Washington, and Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, Mayor Marion Barry, DC Council members, statesmen such as Ralph Bunche, and many other noteworthy figures. Of particular interest is a signed group portrait of the US. Supreme Court with Chief Justice Berger presiding. There are also large- format portraits of Justice Thurgood Marshall and J. Edgar Hoover.
Group portraits include both formal sittings and the informal documentation of banquets, convocations, and similar events. This material includes groups at Howard University; Dunbar High School; the Post Office Clerks' Banquet; the Bishops' Meeting of the AME Church; a YMCA camp, cira 1947 1949; the 23rd annual conference of the NAACP, 1932, etc.
Howard University
Several thousand black and white negatives and prints, 1930s-1960s, depict the people, facilities, and events of Howard University, with which the Scurlocks had a long business relationship. There are various portraits, including Howard University Medical School, represented by 850 negatives and 100 prints. A group of law school and medical school images numbers some 800 negatives and 200 prints. In addition, there are class portraits, as well as images of famous guests speaking at Howard convocations, such as President Herbert Hoover.
Wedding Photography
An important aspect of any portrait studio's output is wedding photography, and the Scurlock studio was no exception. Bridal portraits, group pictures of wedding parties, and the complete documentation of weddings, in both black and white and color, constitute a significant part of the collection. African-American weddings predominate and provide important insights into this aspect of the society.
Exhibitions
The studio's work was shown in special public exhibitions over the years, and several of these are included in toto. The most important was an extensive retrospective display of 121 prints of Addison's work, both vintage and posthumous, prepared by Robert for the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1976. Others include: (1) a set of 32 black and white images made by Robert at the Ramitelli Air Base, Italy, while he was a major in the US Air Force during World War II; (2) a group of portraits from a Black History Month exhibit at Woodward and Lothrop; and (3) a set of sixteen vintage and modern prints which Robert displayed in an interview on the "Today" television show in the 1980s.
Commercial Work
This category includes architectural and industrial photography for commercial clients, food and still life photographs, etc. Much of this material is comparatively recent and was made in large format color, and includes transparencies and enlargements. It is possible that some of the prints represent Custom Craft work for other photographers rather than the camera work of Robert and George Scurlock. Thus far, prints by artist Robert Epstein have been identified as extra prints of his work from orders which he placed with the firm. At least one image by Fred Maroon has been identified.
A group of color prints constitutes copies of artworks, primarily in the National Portrait Gallery, for which the Scurlocks worked. Prints in 8" x 10", 11" x 14", 16" x 20" and 20" x 24" sizes are included, and undoubtedly negatives and transparencies corresponding to these subjects will be found.
Photojournalism
In addition to the formal studio portraits and pictures documenting formal events, the Scurlocks took candid photographs of the everyday life of their city, as well as extraordinary events of local and national significance, ranging from occasions such as John F. Kennedy's funeral and the 1968 riots to political rallies and demonstrations.
Capitol School of Photography
The collection includes a variety of materials, such as books and ephemera, which document the activities of the Capitol School of Photography, a sideline of the Scurlock business. Some of the photographs apparently represent student work. The most famous student of the school was Jacqueline Bouvier (later Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis), although no documentation of her association with the school has been located thus far. There are 45 photographs, circa 1950s, showing the photography lab, men retouching prints, students with cameras, etc.
Personal Photographs
A few photographs of the Scurlock family are included in the collection in various forms and formats, including enlarged portraits of Addison and Robert. A self portrait of Addison and Mamie Scurlock is included in the Corcoran Gallery of Art exhibition series. Other photographs which represent personal artistic expression, such as a few nude studies and floral and plant still lifes, are included.
Series 6 consists of photographic materials including color transparencies, slides, film, and proofs but occasionally includes notes, forms, and envelopes associated with the orders.
Series 1: Black and White Photographs
Series 1: Black and White Photographs
    Dates
    1888-1993
    Extent
    105 boxes
    Contents
    Series 1: Black and White Photographs: The materials are almost entirely black and white photographs, but in the subseries of clients, there may also be job envelopes, order materials, and other photographic material types that were included in the overall order. The series is arranged into two subseries, clients and subjects, and both are arranged alphabetically. The subseries clients documents the orders made by clients of the Scurlock Studio and individuals who were or could be identified but may or may not have actually placed an order at the Studio. The majority of the photographs in the clients subseries are formal portrait sittings but there are photographs of events, organizations, and businesses. The subseries subjects are photographs that were grouped into categories because no known client or individual in the image could be identified. The subjects cover a broad array of subjects but the majority of the subjects include unidentified people in formal portrait sittings and groups. In addition, not all photographs in this series were taken by the Scurlock Studio; there are photos by Abdon Daoud Ackad and other studios or photographers that were sent in to make copies.
    • 1.1: Clients Black and white photographs
    • 1.2: Subjects Black and white photographs
Series 2: Color Photographs
Series 2: Color Photographs
    Dates
    1930-1995
    Extent
    113 boxes
    Contents
    Series 2: Color Photographs: The series color photographs consists of color photographs and hand-colored photographs, but there are also order envelopes and materials, and other photographic material types that were part of the order. The subseries are arranged as clients, subjects, weddings, and hand-colored photographs. Clients are arranged alphabetically by last name or the first word of an organization's name. Not all individuals, organizations, or businesses necessarily represent a client of the Scurlock Studio; if an individual or organization could be identified, the photograph was placed under the identified person or organization even if ther were not a known client of the Studio. The majority of the photographs are individual portrait sittings but also included are family portraits, businesses, organizations, and informal images. The subjects are arranged alphabetically, and document images of non-humans and humans that could not be connected to a known client. Weddings and hand-colored are arranged in alphabetical order with clients preceeding subjects. The were a large subject of the overall collection and the majority of weddings are color photographs but also included in the subseries are black and white and hand-colored photographs of weddings. The hand-colored photographs largely reflect the same subject matter of the subseries clients and subjects. In addition, not all photographs in this subseries were taken by the Scurlock Studio; there are photos by Abdon Daoud Ackad and other studios or photographers that were sent in to make copies.
    • 2.1: Clients Color photographs
    • 2.2: Subjects Color photographs
    • 2.3: Weddings
    • 2.4: Hand-colored photographs
Series 3: Framed Prints
Series 3: Framed Prints
    Dates
    circa 1979
    Extent
    3 boxes
    Contents
    Series 3: Framed Prints: The series framed prints includes three framed color photographs. The framed prints are arranged by the size, from smallest to largest, of the frame. The photographs are of two important political figures: Washington, D. C., Mayor Marion Barry and Senator Edward Brooke.
Series 4: Black-and-White Silver Gelatin Negatives
Series 4: Black-and-White Silver Gelatin Negatives
Series 5: Color Negatives
Series 5: Color Negatives
    Dates
    1964-1994
    Extent
    72 boxes
    Contents
    Series 5: Color Negatives: The series color negatives primarily of color negatives but it also includes order envelopes and materials. The series is arranged into two subseries: clients and subjects. The subseries clients is arranged by job number, and the materials document the orders placed by clients of the Scurlock Studio and identified persons and organizations. The negatives depict individual portrait sittings, groups, and informal poses. The subseries subjects is arranged in alphabetical order, and the materials document negatives that could not be connected to a client of the studio. The negatives represent subjects such as art, buildings, commercial ventures of the Scurlock Studio, and unidentified people.
    • 5.1: Color negatives arranged by client
    • 5.2: Color negatives arranged by subject
Series 6: Color Transparencies, Slides, and Other Formats
Series 6: Color Transparencies, Slides, and Other Formats
    Dates
    1922-1994
    Extent
    40 boxes
    Contents
    Series 6: Color Transparencies, Slides, and Other Formats: The series color transparencies, slides, and other formats consists of black and white and color transparencies, color slides, film, proofs, and order materials. The materials are arranged into four subseries: transparencies, slides, film, and proofs. The subseries are arranged by clients, in alphabetical order by last name, and then subjects, in alphabetical order. The materials document the orders placed at the Scurlock Studio by clients and identified individuals and organizations, and materials that could not be identified and are categorized by subjects. The subjects represented in the materials are primarily individual, family, and group portraits, and events and places. Cut but unmounted slides were typically placed in the subseries transparencies but a small number of cut but unmounted slides are included in the slides. The subseries proofs only contains a form of proof used by the Scurlock Studio that has a fugitive image, and other types of proofs printed on low quality paper or are water-marked and have a lasting image were included in the series Black and White Photographs and Color Photographs if the proof was either black and white or color.
    • 6.1: Transparencies
    • 6.2: Slides
    • 6.3: Film
    • 6.4: Proofs
Series 7: Black-and-White Color Separation Negatives and Matrices
Series 7: Black-and-White Color Separation Negatives and Matrices
    Dates
    1955-1957
    Extent
    7 boxes
    Contents
    Series 7: Black-and-White Color Separation Negatives and Matrices: The materials in the series are black-and-white color separation negatives and a booklet about how to process black-and-white color separation negatives. The materials are arranged into three subseries: clients, subjects, and the booklet. The materials document orders placed at the Scurlock Studio by clients and individuals and organizations that could be identified but not connected to a specific order. The materials also document negatives categorized by subjects because there was no known client or identifiable individual or organization. The subjects represented are individual portrait sittings and groups, and unidentified people.
    • 7.1: Clients Black-and-White Color Separation Negatives
    • 7.2: Subjects Black-and-White Color Separation Negatives
    • Booklet
Series 8: Scurlock Studio Business Records
Series 8: Scurlock Studio Business Records
    Dates
    1907-1996
    Extent
    66 boxes
    Contents
    Series 8: Scurlock Studio Business Records: The series Scurlock Studio Business Records contains paperwork pertaining to the administration of the business, the financial documentation of the business, the reocrds of sales, the advertising signs and promotions of hte business, the files kept on employees, and other materials kept at the Scurlock Studio. The series is arranged into six subseries: administrative file, financial, sales, advertising and marketing, employee and personnel, and office files. Each subseries is arranged differently according to the types of materials predominantly found in the subseries or in chronological order. The subjects represented in the series are mostly related to the financial records of the Scurlock Studio kept and the invoices of sales records. A wide variety of other subjects relating to the the business records of the Scurlock Studio can also be found including: session registers, construction plans, advertisements for specific holidays, and product information sent to the Studio. Some materials found in this series may be marked Scurlock Studio and Custom Craft, the color division of the Scurlock Studio, and were placed with this series because the Scurlock Studio was the primary business. Other materials with an unclear origin of either the Scurlock Studio or Custom Craft were placed in this series.
    • 8.1: Administrative Files
    • 8.2: Financial
    • 8.3: Sales
    • 8.4: Advertising and Marketing
    • 8.5: Employee and Personnel
    • 8.6: Office Files
Series 9: Custom Craft Business Records
Series 9: Custom Craft Business Records
    Dates
    1951-1994
    Extent
    57 boxes
    Contents
    Series 9: Custom Craft Business Records: The series Custom Craft Business Records consists of paper documents relating to the administrative, financial, sales records, employee and personnel, and other files about the affairs of the Custom Craft business's day-to-day operations. The materials are arranged into five subseries: administrative, financial, sales, employee and personnel, and office files. The materials within a subseries are ordered by types of documents that consisted of a large number of materials listed first and materials with few documents following the grouped materials in chronological order. The materials document the day-to-day business of Custom Craft. The subjects represented are documents relating to the administration of the business, journals kept to document finances, the order invoices, the files kept about employees, product information, and materials accumulated in the office. Some documents may list both the Scurlock Studio and Custom Craft and were kept with the business records of Custom Craft if the materials appeared to fit the activities, color photography, of that business. Other documents relating to the business affairs of Custom Craft may be in the series Scurlock Studio Business Records because these documents did not clearly indicate which business the documents belonged to; in these cases, the materials were put in the series Scurlock Studio Business Records because the business was the primary business of the Scurlocks. There business records seem to indicate that there was not always a clear differentiation between the two businesses.
    • 9.1: Administrative
    • 9.2: Financial
    • 9.3: Sales
    • 9.4: Employee and Personnel
    • 9.5: Office files
Series 10: Capitol School of Photography
Series 10: Capitol School of Photography
    Dates
    1948-1954
    Extent
    4 boxes
    Contents
    Series 10: Capitol School of Photography: The series Capitol School of Photography consists of paper documents, photographs, and transparencies. The materials are arranged in chronological order and document the administration of the Capitol School of Photography and the students. The subjects represented are administrative documents, student files, photographs by students, photographs of students and the space used for the School, and transparencies of the same subjects.
Series 11: Washington Stock
Series 11: Washington Stock
    Dates
    1981-1994
    Extent
    2 boxes
    Contents
    Series 11: Washington Stock: The series Washington Stock consists of order materials, orders, and published materials. The materials are arranged chronologically and document the orders placed for Washington Stock and how the materials were used and published. The subjects represented are orders, standard forms used by Washington Stock, and published materials.
Series 12: Background Materials and Publications
Series 12: Background Materials and Publications
    Dates
    1902-1995
    Extent
    18 boxes
    Contents
    Series 12: Background Materials and Publications: The series Background Materials and Publications is composed of paper documents, published materials, and materials from exhibitions. The materials are arranged into four subseries: historical and background information, Scurlock images, reference materials, and exhibition materials. The materials document the Scurlocks, published Scurlock images, published materials lacking Scurlock images, exhibitions of Scurlock images, and other exhibitions of related material. The subjects represented are largely materials related to the Scurlocks' photography and personal interests. Images were placed in the subseries Scurlock images if the photograph was credited to the Scurlocks or was a photograph known to have been taken by the Scurlocks; it is possible that uncredited and less well known images taken by the Scurlocks are present in the subseries reference materials.
    • 12.1: Historical and Background Information
    • 12.2: Scurlock Images
    • 12.3: Reference Materials
    • 12.4: Exhibition Materials
Arrangement
Arrangement
The collection is divided into 12 series.
This collection was processed with numerous changes in arrangement and numbering of boxes. Original box numbers have been retained in this finding aid for cross-reference purposes and to assist anyone with a record of photographs according to the original box numbers.
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
The Scurlock photographic studio was a fixture in the Shaw area of Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1994, and encompassed two generations of photographers, Addison N. Scurlock (1883-1964) and his sons George H. (1920- 2005) and Robert S. (1916-1994).
The turn of the twentieth century saw a mass exodus of African Americans from the South to northern cities in search of better employment opportunities and fairer racial treatment. Although many considered Washington to be the northern-most southern city, it still offered opportunities for African Americans leaving seasonal agricultural work and racial oppression in the South. In Washington, African Americans found stable employment with the U.S. government. In addition, Howard University offered African Americans teaching opportunities, college education, and professional training as doctors, dentists, nurses, lawyers, and ministers. By 1900 a substantial African-American middle class existed in Washington. Despite the fact that Washington was a historically and legally segregated city (and would remain so into the 1960s), this middle class population continued to grow and prosper.
After graduation from high school, Addison Scurlock moved from Fayetteville, North Carolina, to Washington, D.C., with his family in 1900. With a keen interest in photography, he sought out an apprenticeship at the white-owned Moses Rice Studio on Pennsylvania Avenue. The Rice brothers (Amos and Moses) had been in Washington working as photographers since the 1860s and had one of the more prominent and better studios in the city. There Addison learned portrait and general photography. In 1904, he left Rice and began his photographic career at his parents' home. By 1911, when he opened the Scurlock Studio, he had already captured the likeness of Booker T. Washington (1910; see Appendix B), most likely his most well-known portrait. Scurlock quickly identified his market: a self-sufficient African-American community which included students, graduates, and educators affiliated with Howard University; poets; writers; intellectuals; musicians and entertainers; politicians; socialites; fraternal and religious organizations and their leaders. The Scurlock Studio, located at 900 U Street, N.W., became a fixture in the midst of the thriving African-American business community. As with his white counterparts on Pennsylvania Avenue and F Street, N.W., Addison Scurlock inspired passers-by with window displays of his photographs of national leaders and local personalities.
During the 1930s, Addison Scurlock's two sons Robert and George apprenticed in the studio. In addition to portrait and general photography, the sons learned the techniques of retouching negatives and photographic prints, hand-coloring, hand-tinting, and mat decoration. George concentrated on the commercial side of the business while Robert concentrated on the portrait side. The Scurlocks' work changed with the times. From the early 1900s until Addison's death in 1964, the Scurlock Studio was the official photographer of Howard University. In the 1930s the studio began a press service and prepared newsreels on African American current events for the Lichtman Theater chain, which offered some of the few non-segregated venues in the city. Their press service supplied the African-American press with newsworthy photographs of current events, personalities, and social, political, and religious life. Clients included the Norfolk Journal and Guide, Amsterdam News, Pittsburgh Courier, Cleveland Call and Post and the Washington Tribune and Afro-American. George and Robert ran the Capitol School of Photography from 1948 to 1952. Included among their students were African-American veterans under the G.I. Bill, Ellsworth Davis, who later worked as a Washington Post photographer and Bernie Boston of the Los Angeles Times. Perhaps their best-known student was the young Jacqueline Bouvier.
In 1952 Robert opened Washington's first custom color lab. Capitalizing on his knowledge of color processing, Robert was asked to take color portraits of both noted and ordinary individuals. In addition, the studio offered color views of important Washington landmarks and monuments. By the 1960s, Robert added magazine photography to his list of talents, publishing images in Life, Look, and Ebony. Robert continued photographing Washingtonians at his studio until his death in 1994.
According to George Scurlock, the Scurlock studio never had substantial competition in the African American community. Some Washington residents remember it differently, however. Dr. Theodore Hudson, a retired Howard University professor, recalled two other black photographers: Sam Courtney and a man named Sorrell. He said Courtney photographed events in the African American community...?
The collection represents the most comprehensive record of any long-lived, let alone African-American, photography studio, in a public institution. Other twentieth century studio collections exist, such as Robinson Studio, Grand Rapids; Hughes Company, Baltimore, Md. Among African American studio collections in public institutions are James Van Der Zee (New York City, 1912-80s), P.H. Polk (Tuskegee), and the Hooks Brothers (Memphis, Tenn., 1910-1975). The Scurlock Collection covers a greater time period and provides greater depth of coverage of African-American events and personages.
A number of articles have been written about the Scurlock family. Jane Freundel Levey, editor of Washington History magazine, believes that the family went beyond the artful use of light, shadow, and composition. She wrote, "Perhaps the most distinctive hallmark of the Scurlock photograph is the dignity, the uplifting quality of the demeanor of every person captured by photographs who clearly saw each subject as above the ordinary."
Constance McLaughlin Green, one of the leading historians of Washington, D.C., talks about African-American Washington as "the Secret City," a separate world with institutions of its own that remained virtually unknown to the white majority. Addison Scurlock and his sons captured that world on film and in doing so, documented that world in the course of running his business and perfecting his art. Steven C. Newsome, director of the Maryland Commission on Afro-American History and Culture stated that The Scurlocks' photograph "Gave us connections. They tell stories. They let us remember."
The collection includes photographs of the nationally famous Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Mary McLeod Bethune, Mary Church Terrell, Marian Anderson; the locally or regionally important: P.B.S. Pinchback, Judge Miflin Gibbs, Col. Jim Lewis, Ernest Just, Anna J. Cooper; and actors, artists, vaudevillians, and musicians such as Fredi Washington, Madame Lilian Evanti, Oakley & Oakley, and Duke Ellington.
Sources
George Scurlock. Interview conducted by David Haberstich and intern Lora Koehler at Mr. Scurlock's apartment, Aug. 2003.
Theodore Hudson, conversation with David Haberstich in the Archives Center, 2 February 2004.
Jane Freundel Levey, "The Scurlock Studio," Washington History, 1989, p. 44.
Robert S. Scurlock, "An Appreciation of Addison N. Scurlock's Photographic Achievements," The Historic Photographs of Addison N. Scurlock. Washington, D.C.: The Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives, 1986 (exhibition catalog).
Administration
Author
David Haberstich and Vanessa Broussard-Simmons
Sponsor
The collection was acquired with assistance from the Eugene Meyer Foundation. Elihu and Susan Rose and the Save America's Treasures program, provided funds to stabilize, organize, store, and create digital surrogates of some of the negatives. Processing and encoding funded by a grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Museum purchased the Scurlock Studio Records from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, through Judge Marjorie Lawson in 1997. During the period of negotiation between the museum and Robert Scurlock's heirs, his widow Vivian and brother George, the collection was on loan to the Museum and was housed primarily in a closed exhibition area on the second floor. Staff of the Archives Center took physical possession of the collection long before the transfer to the Museum was final. The studio records and photographs were housed principally in the 18th Street studio and in two rental storage facilities. The primary move of the collection to the Museum occurred in September 1995. An additional pickup occurred on February 12, 1996 (on tags). There was probably one additional pickup from the studio by David Haberstich and Caleb Fey on an unrecorded date.
Materials in the National Museum of American History
Cameras and other photographic apparatus, studio furniture, and miscellaneous ephemera from the Scurlock studio are in the History of Photography Collection (now Division of Work and Industry). An adding machine from the studio is in the Museum's mathematics collection. See accessions 1997.0293 and 2010.0157.
Processing Information
Processed by David Haberstich, archivist; Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist; assisted by interns and volunteers; Amy Sokach, Felicia Thompson, James Allen, Elwyn Crawford, Jessica Lehr, Maya Davis, Caroline Knox, Millington Lockwood, Anne Jones, Marian Tatum-Webb, Ramona Williamson, Nancy Beardsley, Kim Bassett, Eric Behm, Griffin Brown, William Callahan, Kendra Ciccone, Lydia Chiro, Brooke Christensen, Amber Covington, Darren Cunningham, Rachel Dean, Lori Dodson, Kelly Donahue, Bianna Duncan, David Feinstein, Adrian Florido, Christine Friis, Elizabeth Garber, Josiah Gould, Matt Gross, Helena Iles, David Johnson, Anne Jones, Millie Keen, Beatrice Kelly, Deborah Khuanghlawn, Kathy Kinakin, Stacey Kniatt, Brett Miller, Nancy Mulry, Erin Molloy, Laura McLester, Lucy Nicholas, Rita O'Hara, Chandra Powell, Audrey Spainhower, Allyssa Tidwell, Ramona Williamson, Rebecca Wolff, Theresa Worden, Alexis Yorcyk, Aysha Preston, Lucy Mensah, Rebekah Keel, Elizabeth Livesey, and Kayla Foney.
Digital Content
Scurlock Studio Records
Scurlock Studio Records
Using the Collection
Conditions Governing Use
When the Museum purchased the collection from the Estate of Robert S. Scurlock, it obtained all rights, including copyright. The earliest photographs in the collection are in the public domain because their term of copyright has expired. The Archives Center will control copyright and the use of the collection for reproduction purposes, which will be handled in accordance with its standard reproduction policy guidelines. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Series 8: Business Records, Subseries 8.1: Studio Session Registers are restricted. Digital copies available for research. See repository for details.
Gloves must be worn when handling unprotected photographs and negatives. Special arrangements required to view negatives due to cold storage. Using negatives requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center at 202-633-3270.
Preferred Citation
Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History. Smithsonian Institution
Materials at Other Organizations
Materials at Other Organizations
The Historical Society of Washington, DC holds Scurlock-related materials.
The Charles Sumner School Museumn and Archives holds Scurlock-related materials.
More Information
Bibliography
Bibliography
Fearing, Jeffrey John, "Addison Scurlock and the Scurlock Studios of Washington, D.C.," Howard University web site, http://www.huarchivesnet.howard.edu/0011huarnet/fearing1.htm.
Haberstich, David E. "The Scurlock Ninety-Year Project: Black Washington in Black America," Exposure, vol. 32:1 (1999), pp. 64-73.
Jenkins, Keith W. "Picture of Success," Washington Post Magazine, Feb. 1, 2004, p. 10, with photographs reproduced on cover, pp. 1, 11-15, 22.
Levey, Jane Freundel. "The Scurlock Studio," Washington History, Magazine of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., Vol. 1, No. 1 (Spring 1989), pp. 40-57 + cover illus.
Levey, Jane Freudel. "The Scurlock Studio," chapter in Willis, Deborah, and Jane Lusaka, eds. Visual Journal: Harlem and D.C. in the Thirties and Forties. Washington and London: The Center for African American History and Culture and Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996, pp. 149-155, adapted from Levey's Washington History article.
McNeil, Robert, interviewee, appraises Addison Scurlock and describes copying his techniques in Duke Ellington's Washington, a video production written by Stanley Nelson and Hedrick Smith, Hedrick Smith Productions, Inc., in collaboration with South Carolina ETV, 1999. The production, which includes many Scurlock images from the Smithsonian collection throughout, was telecast on the Public Broadcasting System.
Perl, Peter. "The Scurlock Look," Washington Post Magazine, 2 December 1990, pp. 23+.
Powell, Elaine. Critique of a photograph by Addison N. Scurlock, 2 pp., in Intuitiveye Gallery exhibition catalog, 21 Critics in Search of Photographers: An Informal Venture into Photographic Criticism (Jan. 26-April 12, 1976).
Rosenblum, Naomi. A World History of Photography. New York: Abbeville Press, pp. 272-274, with a reproduction of an Addison Scurlock image.
Scurlock, Robert S. "An Appreciation of Addison N. Scurlock's Photographic Achievements," essay in The Historic Photographs of Addison N. Scurlock. Washington, D.C.: The Charles Sumner School Museum and Archives, 1986 (exhibition catalog).
Trescott, Jacqueline. "Love of the People, Control of the Craft," Washington Post, 13 June 1976.
Willis, Deborah, Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present. New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company, 2000, pp. 41-42, plus illus., pp. 37, 38, 60, 61, 94, 95.
Willis, Deborah, and Jane Lusaka, eds. Visual Journal: Harlem and D.C. in the Thirties and Forties. Washington and London: The Center for African American History and Culture and Smithsonian Institution Press, 1996.
Winston, Michael R., "Introduction: Washington and the 'Secret City," in The Historic Photographs of Addison N. Scurlock (Washington, D.C.: Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1976, exhibition catalog with illustrations and checklist).
Cattau, Daniel. "Forgotten Champions," The Washington Post Magazine, June 3, 1990, pp. 1, 22-29, with four photographs by Robert Scurlock.
Haberstich, David E. "The Archives Center and Photography: National Museum of American History," History of Photography, spring 2000 (Vol. 24, No. 1), p. 49.
Hine, Diane Clark, ed. Black Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia. Vol. 1.. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Carlson Publishing, Inc., 1993, pp. 117, 276, 279, 280, 402, 403, 429, 588, 650.
Jenkins, Keith W. "Picture of Success," Washington Post Magazine, 1 February 2004, pp. 10-15, plus cover, pp. 1, 22.
Marable, Manning, and Leith Mullings; pictures edited by Sophie Spencer-Wood. Freedom: A Photographic History of the African American Struggle. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2002. Pp. 72, 73, 86, 116, 150 [provided by the Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture, no credit in caption], 172, 211.
"Portrait of the City: Images of Washington in the American Century," Special Millennium issue, Nov. 21, 1999, Washington Post Magazine, pp. 24, 33 (photograph of Marian Anderson by Robert Scurlock, erroneously attributed to Addison), 46, 72, 76
Smith, Kathryn Schneider. Washington at Home: An Illustrated History of Neighborhoods in the Nation's Capital. Windsor Publications, 1988.
Weintraub, Boris. "Elegance Lost & Regained at No. 4 Logan Circle," Washington Star Home/Life (magazine), March 19, 1978, pp. 8-11, illustrated with photographs by Robert S. Scurlock.
Willis, Deborah, Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present. New York and London: W. W. Norton and Company, 2000, pp. 41 42, plus illus., pp. 37, 38, 60, 61, 94, 95.
Willis, Deborah. Black: A Celebration of a Culture. New York: Hylas Publishing, 2004, pp. 20, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 56, 58, 61, 74, 84, 87, 90, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98, 99, 100, 101, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118-119, 120, 123, 136, 160, 161, 181, 218, 219, 235, 237, 240, 244, 245, 246, 247, 248, 256-257, 258, 259, 266, 267, 285, 300, 301, 302, dust-jacket back.
Keywords
Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Washington (D.C.) -- Small business -- 20th century Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Portraits -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Politicians -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Segregation Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Dye transfer process Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Shaw (Washington, D.C.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Commercial photography -- 20th century -- Washington (D.C) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Studio portraits Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Washington (D.C.) -- African Americans Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Matrices, color separation Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photography -- 20th century -- Washington (D.C.) Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographs -- 20th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Color separation negatives Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African Americans -- History -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American entertainers -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
African American photographers Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Howard University -- 20th century Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
DuBois, W.E.B. (William Edward Burghardt), 1868-1963 Personal Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
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