BELL, MALCOLM, 1913-
Drums and Shadows photograph
collection
Drums and Shadows photograph collection
Emory University
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Atlanta, GA 30322
404-727-6887
rose.library@emory.edu
Permanent link: http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/8z01b
Table of Contents
Descriptive Summary
Creator: | Bell, Malcolm, 1913- |
---|---|
Title: | Drums and Shadows photograph collection |
Call Number: | Manuscript Collection No. 761 |
Extent: | .25 linear feet (1 box) and 1 oversized papers box (OP) |
Abstract: | Reprints of Malcolm and Muriel Bell's photographs of African Americans living on the coast of Georgia. |
Language: | Materials entirely in English. |
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
Unrestricted access.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Special restrictions apply: Requests for duplication should be referred to the Library of Congress, owner of the original negatives. Call number: LOT 13351.
Source
Gift of Malcolm and Muriel Bell, 1994.
Custodial History
The Bells are the photographers. This exhibit, entitled "Drums and Shadows: Photographs of African-Americans from the Georgia Coastal Region," was mounted in the Schatten Gallery, Woodruff Library 1 February-20 March 1994. Mr. and Mrs. Bell donated these photogrpahs to the library. Director of the Schatten Gallery Valerie Watkins then transferred these items to Special Collections. These photographs were reproduced from original negatives of photographs taken by the Bells as part of Georgia's Writers' Project program of the Works Project Administration in the 1930s.
Citation
[after identification of item(s)], Drums and Shadows photograph collection, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.
Appraisal Note
Acquired by Barbara J. Mann as part of the Rose Library's holdings in African American culture and history and Georgia history.
Processing
Processed by Barbara J. Mann, 1994.
This finding aid may include language that is offensive or harmful. Please refer to the Rose Library's harmful language statement for more information about why such language may appear and ongoing efforts to remediate racist, ableist, sexist, homophobic, euphemistic and other oppressive language. If you are concerned about language used in this finding aid, please contact us at rose.library@emory.edu.
Collection Description
Biographical Note
Malcolm Bell Jr., photographer, historian, and bank president, was born in Savannah, Georgia, in 1913. His parents were Malcolm and Laura Palmer Bell. Bell’s grandfather, Frank, was the publisher of the Savannah Morning News and his father was part of the administrative staff.
Bell attended the University of North Carolina, but was unable to graduate due to an auto accident. In 1939, at the age of twenty-six, Bell and his wife, Muriel Barrow Bell, became involved with the Savannah Unit of the Georgia Writers’ Project, a Works Progress Administration program, to interview and photograph coastal Georgia blacks who were of African descent. Under the leadership of Mary Granger, the Savannah Unit interviewed ca. one hundred thirty-four people in twenty locations. Malcolm and Muriel Bell served as the photographers. The results of this project were published in 1940 and entitled Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Coastal Georgia Negroes (Athens: University of Georgia Press). It was reprinted in 1986.
Bell served as president and chairman of the Savannah Bank and Trust Company. He also authored three books, Savannah Ahoy (Savannah: Pigeonhole Press, 1959), Savannah (Savannah: Historic Savannah Foundation, 1977), and Major Butler’s Legacy: Five Generations of a Slaveholding Family (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1987). Bell has also published articles in The Georgia Review and The Georgia Historical Quarterly. Sources used to compile this note include GHS Footnotes (Fall 1992), 6 December 1987 article from Savannah News Press, and Drums and Shadows: Survival Studies Among the Georgia Coastal Negroes (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1940).
Scope and Content Note
The Drums and Shadows photograph collection consists of reprints of Malcolm and Muriel Bell's photographs of African Americans living on the coast of Georgia including Possum Point and Pin Point, Chatham County; Sapelo Island, McIntosh County; St. Mary's, Camden County; St. Simons Island, Glynn County; and Sunbury, Liberty County, Georgia. The photographs were used in an exhibit mounted by the Schatten Gallery, Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, February 1 - March 20, 1994. They are arranged in the Checklist of the Exhibition order. The number designation after each photograph’s title corresponds to this list. Commentary on the exhibit as a whole, along with commentary for each portion of the exhibit, were written by Muriel Barrow Bell.
Selected Search Terms
Personal Names
- Bell, Malcolm, 1913-2001. Drums and shadows : survival studies among the Georgia coastal Negroes.
- Bell, Muriel Barrow.
Topical Terms
- African Americans--Georgia--Camden County.
- African Americans--Georgia--Chatham County.
- African Americans--Georgia--Glynn County.
- African Americans--Georgia--Liberty County.
- African Americans--Georgia--McIntosh County.
Geographic Names
Form/Genre Terms
Occupation
Container List
Exhibit text | ||
Box | Folder | Content |
---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Exhibit catalog |
1 | 2 | Comments on the exhibit by Muriel Barrow Bell |
Artifacts | ||
1 | 3 | Comments |
OP1 | 1 | Carved Masks and Wooden Chains; Carved Wooden Figures (#1) |
OP1 | 2 | Carved Wooden Spoon; Carved Wooden Stick with Figure (#2) |
OP1 | 3 | Coil Basket and Carved Wooden Objects; Carved Stone Fig (#3) |
OP1 | 4 | Carved Sticks and Handmade Banjo; Carved Sticks (#4) |
OP1 | 5 | Carved Stick with a Man's Head (#5) |
OP1 | 6 | Carved Wooden Frog (#6) |
OP1 | 7 | Painted Wooden Figure (#7) |
OP1 | 8 | Goatskin-covered Log Drum made by James Collier (#8) |
OP1 | 9 | James Collier at Brownville (#9) |
OP1 | 10 | Julian Linder at Brownville (#10) |
OP1 | 11 | Tony Delegal at Ogeecheetown (#11) |
Pin Point | ||
1 | 4 | Comments |
OP1 | 12 | Woman and Baby at Pin Point (#12) |
OP1 | 13 | Little Girl at Pin Point Printed from the Original Negative by Photographer Alice Boyle (#13) |
OP1 | 14 | Boy at Pin Point (#14) |
OP1 | 15 | Boy at Pin Point, Smiling (#15) |
OP1 | 16 | Lewis McIver, Fisherman at Pin Point (#16) |
Sunbury | ||
OP1 | 17 | Wooden Gravemarkers at Sunbury (#17) |
Possum Point | ||
1 | 5 | Comments |
OP1 | 18 | Alec Anderson at Possum Point (#18) |
OP1 | 19 | Rachel Anderson at Possum Point (#19) |
OP1 | 20 | The Anderson's Granddaughter at Possum Point (#20) |
OP1 | 21 | Woodworker at Possum Point (#21) |
Sapelo | ||
1 | 6 | Comments |
OP1 | 22 | Julius Bailey and Ox Cart at Sapelo (#22) |
OP1 | 23 | Julius Bailey Looking Over Ox Cart (#23) |
OP1 | 24 | Ox Cart in Distance (#24) |
OP1 | 25 | Katie Brown with Flint (#25) |
OP1 | 26 | Katie Brown (#26) |
OP1 | 27 | Katie Brown with Pestle and Mortar (#27) |
OP1 | 28 | Julia Grovernor, Called Juno, at Sapelo (#28) |
OP1 | 29 | Cuffy Wilson with His Granddaughter (#29) |
OP1 | 30 | Nero Jones at Sapelo (#30) |
OP1 | 31 | Little Boy with a Hoop at Sapelo (2 copies) (#31) |
OP1 | 32 | Little Girl at Sapelo (#32) |
OP2 | 7 | Shad Hall at Hog Hammock (#33) |
OP2 | 8 | John Bryan at Raccoon Bluff, Sapelo (#34) |
OP1 | 33 | Praise House at Sapelo (#35) |
St. Simons Island | ||
1 | 7 | Comments |
OP1 | 34 | Ryna Johnson, Her Daughter and Son-in-Law at Harrington, St. Simons Island (#36) |
OP1 | 35 | Ryna Johnson (#37) |
OP1 | 36 | Ben Sullivan at St. Simons Island (#38) |
St. Mary's | ||
1 | 8 | Comments |
OP1 | 37 | Henry Williams at St. Mary's (#39) |
OP1 | 38 | Henry Williams (#40) |
OP1 | 39 | House of Henry Williams at St. Mary's (#41) |
OP1 | 40 | Enoch and Artie Jones at St. Mary's (2 copies) (#42) |
OP1 | 41 | Artie Jones (#44) |
OP1 | 42 | Robert Lucas at St. Mary's (#44) |
OP1 | 43 | Jim Myers at Mush Bluff Island (#45) |
OP1 | 44 | Jim Myers (#46) |
OP1 | 45 | Jim Myers (#47) |
OP1 | 46 | Jim Myers (#48) |
Additional photographs | ||
1 | 9 | Comments |