‘Black Activism In Print’: Exhibit at the Central Library Displays Visual Art from the Douglass-Truth Branch’s African American Collection
release date: July 11, 2023
A new exhibit at The Seattle Public Library’s Central Library features visual art from the Douglass-Truth Branch’s African American Collection and honors the Delta Upsilon Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (AKA), whose advocacy created this historic collection.
Titled “Black Activism in Print: Visual Art from the African American Collection,” the exhibit will open at the Central Library’s Level 8 gallery with a reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, July 13. It will be on view through September 15, 2023.
Framed art prints by prominent Black artists and activists Charles White and Elizabeth Catlett, including Catlett’s print “Sharecropper,” above, will be on display for the first time at the Central Library since their donation to the Douglass-Truth Branch.
The exhibit will also include poems inspired by the prints, composed by members of the African American Writers’ Alliance, and historical ephemera (donation letters, petitions and photographs) pertaining to the origins of the African American Collection, established by the AKA in 1965.
“This exhibition highlights the African American Collection and the Delta Upsilon Omega chapter of AKA. Prominent members of the AKA, civic leaders such as Dr. Millie Russell, Roberta Byrd Barr and Ruth Marie Brown, championed the collection for decades,” said Taylor Brooks, African American Collection and Community Engagement Librarian. “Through their tenacity and determination, these women created a space for Black art and knowledge in the Central District.”
The exhibit is supported by the T.E.W. Foundation and The Seattle Public Library Foundation. Exhibit partners include Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Delta Upsilon Omega Chapter, and the African American Writers’ Alliance.
ABOUT ELIZABETH CATLETT AND CHARLES WHITE
The two artists highlighted in the exhibit, Elizabeth Catlett and Charles White, were involved in the Black Arts Movement, revealing the particularities, struggles, strengths, and celebrations of African Americans through the creation of visual art, sculpture, poetry and prints.
According to the Museum of Modern Art, Catlett once said the purpose of her work was to “present Black people in their beauty and dignity for ourselves and others to understand and enjoy.” The prints were donated to the African American Collection by the Delta Upsilon Omega chapter of AKA.
ABOUT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COLLECTION AT THE DOUGLASS-TRUTH BRANCH
The African American Collection of literature and history was established in 1965 at the Douglass-Truth Branch of The Seattle Public Library (formerly the Yesler Branch Library) through the advocacy and grit of the members of Delta Upsilon Omega, the local chapter of AKA. Throughout the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the Collection was entirely supported by members of AKA and the Black community, largely through funds raised at the annual AKA Library Tea and other arts-related programming. The African American Collection has over 10,000 items and continues to grow.
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