Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Mel Rosenthal Photoprints

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.1307
Creators:
Rosenthal, Mel, 1940-
Perry Mapp, Roberta
Dates:
circa 1975-2010
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
49 Items
1 box
Repository:
Black-and-white photoprints from two documentary projects: "In the South Bronx of America" and "Refuge". Mel Rosenthal's mission in the Bronx project was to record the deterioration and poverty there. Some photographs from the Bronx project have also been used in the "Refuge" project, because they document immigrants who moved into the Bronx.

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Silver gelatin black-and-white photoprints from two documentary projects: "In the South Bronx of America" (1975-1983, 42 prints) and "Refuge" (6 prints). According to Leonard Kriegel, Rosenthal's mission in the Bronx project and its book version was simply "to record the horror that is there....He wants us to feel shame at what has been done to the people of the South Bronx by a nation so indifferent to suffering that it can pretend the mean streets were burned down by their inhabitants." (Siegel, "In Sorrowful Celebration of the Bronx," Forward, Feb. 23, 2001, p. 13)

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1: In the South Bronx of America, as reproduced in the book
Series 2: Not in Book: From the "South Bronx of America" Project and the "Refuge" Project

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Mel Rosenthal was born on March 5, 1940, and grew up close to the South Bronx neighborhood in which he made many of the photographs in this collection decades later, beginning in 1975. He earned a Ph.D. in English literature and American studies from the University of Connecticut, with a dissertation on the effect of alienation on American writers.
He traveled to Africa and worked as a medical photographer at the University Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He engaged in other photographic projects there and soon had dedicated himself to documentary photography. He became a Distinguished Professor of Art at SUNY/Empire State College. He has been the photography editor of culturefront, the magazine of the New York Council for the Humanities. He was awarded fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
He became a Distinguished Professor of Art at SUNY/Empire State College. He has been the photography editor of culturefront, the magazine of the New York Council for the Humanities. He was awarded fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Administration

Author
David Haberstich
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by Roberta Perry Mapp, July 21, 2012.
Processing Information
Processed by NMAH Staff, undated

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Use
Mel Rosenthal retains copyright. 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.
Preferred Citation
Mel Rosenthal Photopprints, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Immigrants -- 20th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Black-and-white photographic prints -- Silver gelatin -- 1950-2000 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
New York (N.Y.) -- 20th century Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Bronx (New York, N.Y.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
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