Ben Shahn Lithographs
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
- circa 1965
Creator
- Shahn, Ben (Benjamin), 1898-1969 (Person)
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.
Sources
Biographical information obtained from the collection case file and from snccdigital.org.
- Art original. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Chaney, James Earl (1943-1964)
- Civil rights -- United States. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Civil rights workers -- Mississippi. Subject Source: Local sources
- Civil rights. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Goodman, Andrew, 1943-1964
- Mississippi Freedom Project. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Race relations. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Schwerner, Michael Henry, 1939-1964
- Shahn, Ben (Benjamin), 1898-1969
- 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
118 College Drive - 5148
Hattiesburg MS 39406-0001
601.266.4345
