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Ben Shahn Lithographs

 Collection
Identifier: M596

Scope and Contents

This collection contains three lithograph prints that are matted, framed and signed by the artist Ben Shahn. The lithographs are of Civil Rights workers James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman killed in June 1964 in Mississippi.

Dates

  • Creation: circa 1965

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Noncirculating; available for research.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection may be protected from unauthorized copying by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code).

Biographical / Historical

Ben Shahn (1898-1969) was born in Kovno, Lithuania, and emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1906. Shahn would become a gifted lithographer and attended New York University, City College and the National Academy of Design. Shahn became known as a Social Realist artist for the way his works depicted the turmoil of the working class. Shahn’s works range from the early years of the Depression to the tumultuous time of the 1960s. This collection focuses on three lithographs that were a part of a series called “Nine Drawings” Shahn completed in 1965. The subjects in the lithographs featured in this collection is of the three Civil Rights workers killed in Neshoba County, Mississippi during 1964 Freedom Summer. The three men were James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman, and they were investigating a church that was burned down when the men disappeared on June 21, 1964. The bodies of the three men would not be found until August 4, 1964, six weeks after their disappearance. In response to the murders Shahn expressed his outrage at the deaths of these men by doing a portfolio called the Human Relations Portfolio. The profits from the sales of the lithographs went to the Human Relations Council of Greater New Haven, Connecticut.

Extent

3 Items : lithograph prints, framed and matted

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Three lithographs of Civil Rights workers killed in the Summer of 1964.

Arrangement

This collection contains three framed, matted, and signed lithographs by Ben Shahn.

Physical Location

108.MC3.D21-23

Provencance

Donated by Shirley L. Payne on May 30, 1996.

Related Materials

Related collections:

M257 – Jinny Glass Mississippi Freedom Summer Diary

M320 – Zoya Zeman Freedom Summer Collection

M325 – Glenda Funchess Civil Rights Collection

M371 – Raymond Shonholtz Freedom Summer Memoir

M406 – Civil Rights in the South Collection

M519- Robert F. Kennedy Civil Rights Letter

M581- William “Bill” G. McAtee Civil Rights Collection

Books by or about Ben Shahn at University Libraries:

Ben Shahn by Ben Shahn. Available in McCain library, call number de Grummond ND237.S465 N4 1947

Ben Shahn by Ben Shahn (1972). Available in Cook library, call number ND237.S465 B79

Portrait of the Artist as an American; Ben Shahn: A Biography with Pictures by Selden Rodman. Available in Cook library, call number ND237.S465 R6

The shape of content by Ben Shahn. Available in McCain library, call number de Grummond N7445 .S516 1957b

Ounce, Dice, Trice by Alastair Reid. (1958) [Drawings by Ben Shahn] Available in Cook and McCain libraries, call number PR6035.E4 O8

Ounce, Dice, Trice by Alastair Reid. (1991) [Drawings by Ben Shahn] Available in McCain Library, call number de Grummond PN6163 .R4 1991

Kay-Kay Comes Home by Nicholas Samstag [Drawings by Ben Shahn] Available in Cook library, call number PZ7.S18 Kay5

Maximus of Tyre: On the Dispute about Images Caligraphed, Illustrated and with an Introduction by Ben Shahn. Available in McCain library, call number de Grummond BV150 .M38 1964

Sweet was the song by Ben Shahn. Available in McCain library, call number de Grummond M1997.S5 S94 1965

The Complete Graphic Works of Ben Shahn by Kenneth Wade Prescott. Available in Cook library, call number NE539.S4 P73 1973

Prints and Posters of Ben Shahn by Kenneth Wade Prescott. Available in Cook library, call number N6537.S5 A4 1982

Ben Shahn's New York: the photography of modern times by Ben Shahn. Available in Cook Library, call number TR820.5 .S4797 2000

Sources

Biographical information obtained from the collection case file and from snccdigital.org.

Title
Ben Shahn Lithographs
Status
Completed
Author
Collection processed and finding aid written by Amanda Abulawi
Date
28 Jan 2020
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Historical Manuscripts and Photographs Repository

Contact:
118 College Drive - 5148
Hattiesburg MS 39406-0001
601.266.4345