The Vanguard Generation: African American Artists, 1880-1918 with Daniel E. Atkinson

Discover the remarkable first generation of African American artists and performers whose contributions helped shape popular culture. Active after the Civil War and before World War I, many of these artists were the first in their families to be born out of bondage or to attend college—overcoming tremendous hardship in defiance of Jim Crow laws.

Using newly discovered documents from the era, this talk reveals the talent, ingenuity, conflicts, and solidarity of the “Vanguard Generation.”