Thomas H. Wirth photograph collection

The Thomas H. Wirth photograph collection is comprised of photographs, slides and negatives documenting the Black experience taken by Wirth mostly during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The majority of the photographs were taken during Wirth’s tenure as a faculty member at historically black colleges and universities in South Carolina, Louisiana and Mississippi, with some additional photographs taken in Atlanta, Georgia, and Berkeley, California. Individuals and landscapes of West Point, Mississippi; Pointe Coupee Parish in Louisiana; Plaquemine, Louisiana; Orangeburg, South Carolina; and Atlanta, Georgia, are prominent in Wirth’s work. Some photographs are labeled “America – It’s Faces” and “America – It’s Landscapes” indicating that Wirth likely saw these works as part of a larger photographic essay on African American life during the era. Photographs range from 11” x 14” mounted works to finished and test shots of various sizes and contact sheets. In total, the collection numbers approximately 900 images, with some duplication present. Also present are later photographs taken by Wirth of writer and artist Richard Bruce Nugent, a gay pride parade in New York City in 1998, and an opening for an exhibition by artist Ben Jones in 2001. A small number of photographs of Wirth alone or with others complete the collection.