Marc and Evelyne Bernheim collection, 1961-1969

Summary Information

At a Glance

Description

Content Description

The Marc and Evelyne Bernheim Photography Collection of black and white photographic prints, contact sheets, color slides, negatives, correspondence, notes, and excerpts of "pix stories" documents the 1960s experience of peoples primarily on the continent of Africa. The collection also includes photos of people and places in parts of Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, and parts of the United States, especially New York City. The bulk of this image archive highlights the challenges of modern development in African societies and on traditional and modern African artistic and cultural expression in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zambia. There are also files on tourism and wildlife management in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The collection is organized by country, region, and photographic assignments carried out during the period 1961-1969 on the following main themes: the new educated African elite—both men and women---a few presidents and other famous politicians, development workers, "youth leaders", business people, doctors, midwives, artists, dancers, musicians, writers, university professors, radio announcers, school children, etc. in West, East, and Southern Africa; the new urban architecture and housing developments in parts of West, East, and Southern Africa; public health projects in urban and rural areas of West, East, and Southern Africa; traditional and modern developments in education in various parts of West, East, and Southern Africa; livelihoods in farming and pastoral areas of West Africa; the daily lives of non-elites, especially children and their families facing the challenges of development in parts of West, East, Southern and North Africa; life and landscapes under apartheid in South Africa—Cape Town and the wine country and Johannesburg—segregated "Europeans Only" places, the Black townships, and the nearby mines; the intersection of African traditional forms of healing and "modern medicine"; other aspects of religion in Africa (traditional African, Christian, and Islamic)—especially in West Africa and Ethiopia; and, the arts in Africa---traditional and modern architecture, sculpture and painting, including images of important landmark historical sculptures and buildings, as well as portraits of modern artists and crafts people in West, East, and northeast Africa. The collection also contains images from trips taken to document people, places, and the challenges of development in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, India, Thailand, and Indonesia, as well as images from a private collection of African sculpture in the USA, scenes from Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts, an animal research center in Texas, interiors and people at the United Nations headquarters in New York, composers and musicians at work inside the newly constructed Lincoln Center—especially the Julliard School, and other people and places in the New York City area.

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Conditions Governing Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

This collection is in process and closed until processing is completed.

This collection is located on-site.

Conditions Governing Use

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Marc & Evelyne Bernheim collection; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift, Lynn Bernheim Blank, 2015.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

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Subject