Creating an Image for Black Higher Education: A Visual Examination of the United Negro College Fund's Publicity, 1944-1960

Educational Foundations, Spring 2004 by Gasman, Marybeth, Epstein, Edward

A photograph shows black college students wearing nicely pressed, collegiate clothing [Figure I]. They are holding their schoolbooks tightly across their chests. They are neat, clean, and studious. Across the page, the title reads "Access to education ... in the American way."1 Interspersed with crisply organized, modern looking type, this kind of image was the mainstay of 1940s and 195Os United Negro College Fund (UNCF) publicity.2 But what is the visual pedigree of these images, and the layout and design in which they are situated? What did they say about the role of black colleges in American society? Lastly, how did they serve the purposes of the UNCF, and shape the public ' s, and most importantly, the donors' understanding of Black colleges?

A conglomeration of colleges and universities dedicated to the higher education of blacks in the United States, the UNCF came together in an effort to streamline the fundraising process for these institutions. In addition, the UNCF acted as a united voice for private black colleges. These colleges were founded primarily in the South after the Civil War (with the exception of a few in the North) by white and black missionary philanthropists with the express intent of educating the former slaves. Until the advent of desegregation, these colleges were the only option available for blacks seeking higher education in the South and, in many cases, the North as well.3

The image of black college students expressed in the above example of UNCF publicity is conservative and patriotic. The design is quite similar to mainstream forms of publicity that were used at that time. But it was by no means the only type of visual identity available to a black organization. By the mid 1940s, there was a vast field of black-run publications that had developed their own version of the modernist design idiom. Beginning in the 192Os, the thriving Harlem Renaissance had "produced a distinctive literary language, combining the folklore of Africa and southern black America."4 The Renaissance was also the impetus for the modernist black arts movement in the United States.5 This artistic influence spilled over into graphic design and could be seen on the covers of The Crisis, Opportunity, The Messenger, and Fire. According to Michele Y. Washington, "Multifaceted visual artists mastered the skills of designing, illustrating, and hand-lettering type. With vigor and passion, they turned out dust jackets, illustrations for book interiors, covers of race journals, and posters for film and theater."6 As well as exhibiting African influence in their design, the photography in these publications tended to take a more assertive and critical stance on issues of race. Given the fact that uniquely African American approaches to graphic design already existed, it is curious that an organization like the UNCF, founded by blacks and for black institutions, would choose such a mainstream representation for itself.

Informed by bell hooks' claim that "all art is situated in history, that the individual choice of subject matter reflects that situatedness," this paper explores the fundraising solicitations made by the UNCF during the 194Os and 195Os.7 Why did the UNCF, in its efforts to secure funds for black higher education, choose not to adopt the black-inspired designs being used for publicity by other African American organizations-but instead stick to a conventional style with themes that reflected loyalty and patriotism? What messages were embedded in the style as well as the content of the publicity? How did the UNCF publicity address the political, social, and educational situation at the time?

As noted in the above example, photographs play an important role in UNCF publicity. Theorists of the image such as Roland Barthes have noted that photographs are not as important for the actual events they document, as the way they communicate their meanings to the audience. Details of a photograph, we are told, are interpreted using systems of symbols and meanings applied by the individual viewer.8 Moreover, the techniques of photography allow for the selection and alteration of the material captured on film, making it easy for the photographer to construct and manipulate a reality that is independent of what he or she experienced.9 Historian Joan Burstyn says of the choices photographers make about composition, lighting, and lens, "when we make such decisions, we, as photographers, at the most control, and at the least influence viewers' emotional and cognitive response to the world we have created."10

A number of scholars have applied the methods of visual communications to the analysis of images in education. In an essay entitled "Questioning the Visual in the History of Education," for example, Kate Rousmaniere analyzes classroom photographs and how they have been used to construct a conventionalized understanding of school practices. She has shown how the exact circumstances under which the photos are taken can be quite different from the messages they conveyed to the viewer, especially in light of their placement and use."