James Amos Porter (1905-1970)

James Amos Porter (1905-1970)

James Amos Porter was the first African American art historian. Born on December 22, 1905 in Baltimore, Maryland, he was the son of Lydia and John Porter, a prominent minister in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Porter graduated cum laude in 1927 with a...
Roy DeCarava (1919-2009)

Roy DeCarava (1919-2009)

Roy Rudolph DeCarava was the first African American to receive the Guggenheim Fellowship. Born on December 9, 1919 in Harlem Hospital, New York City, New York, DeCarava was the only child of a Jamaican mother and American father, who separated when he was young. In...
John Thomas Biggers (1924-2001)

John Thomas Biggers (1924-2001)

Image Ownership: Fair Use Twentieth century artist John Thomas Biggers was an educator, painter and muralist. His travels in Africa in the 1950s influenced the depiction of social and cultural themes in his work. John Thomas Biggers was born in Gastonia, North...