Beauchamp Branch Photodocumentation Project, 1994

Onondaga County Public Library - Central Library

David Wilkins, center, playing the saxophone at The Penguin Club, 800 block of South State Street. - Image Source

Collection Facts

Extent:

367

Dates of Original:

c. 1875 - 1994

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Historical Context

The Onondaga County Public Library Beauchamp Branch Neighborhood Photodocumentation Project was funded by the New York State Archives and Records Administration's Documentary Heritage Program. The project was intended to create a collection of photographs which would document the African American community served by the Beauchamp Branch Library in Syracuse, N.Y. Members of the community were asked to bring in personal photographs during four scheduled copy clinics held during May 1994 at the Beauchamp Branch Library. Selected photographs were copied by Ellen Blalock, a professional photographer, using a 35mm camera and black and white film. One set of negatives and two sets of photographs were developed and printed by ProLab, a commercial photographic laboratory. The photographs and negatives were then housed in archival-quality albums. These photographs, including the negatives, are at the main branch of the Onondaga County Public Library, Syracuse, N.Y., in the Local History/Genealogy Department.

Scope of Collection

This collection contains photographs contributed by over 20 families living in the Beauchamp Branch Library neighborhood. The photographs include family photographs and photographs of businesses and people in the Beauchamp Branch Library neighborhood. A project guide contains information on the families who contributed the photographs, as well as information on the photographs themselves. Also included in the archives is information on the grant that was used to fund this project, and promotional material used by the library to advertise this collection.