University at Buffalo Libraries

Finding Aid for the Milton Rogovin Photographs of Storefront Churches and Musicians in Buffalo, 1958-1961

Contains Digital Content

Mus. Arc. 26

State University of New York at Buffalo. Music Library

112 Baird Hall
Buffalo, New York 14260-4750
United States
Phone: 716 645-2924
Fax: 716 645-3906
Email: musique@buffalo.edu
URL: http:ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/units/music

Finding aid prepared by John Bewley.
Finding aid encoded in EAD by John Bewley, April 2007.
Finding aid is in English.
Finding aid prepared using DACS ( Describing Archives: A Content Standard .).

© 2007. State University of New York at Buffalo. All rights reserved.

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Collection Overview

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Specified item], Milton Rogovin Photographs of Storefront Churches and Musicians in Buffalo, 1958-1961, Music Library, The State University of New York at Buffalo.

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Milton Rogovin, February 2004.

Terms of Access

Materials can be examined by qualified researchers in the Music Library during hours of operation during which Music Librarians are present. In order to insure access, researchers are advised to contact the Music Library in advance of visits.

Copyright

Copyright for the materials in the collection does not reside with the Music Library. Therefore, patrons wishing to publish any item, or part of an item from this collection for any purpose, are responsible for securing requisite permissions.

Alternate Forms

Collection digitized for online use.

Processing Information

Processed by John Bewley.

Accruals and Additions

No further accruals are expected to this collection.

Biographical Note

Milton Rogovin, born December 30, 1909 in New York City, was trained as an optometrist at Columbia University, where he received his degree in 1931. He moved to Buffalo, New York in 1939, where he established his own optometric pratice on Chippewa Street near the city's Lower West Side. This region of the city would serve as a source of material for Rogovin's career as a photographer.

Rogovin served in the United States Army from 1942-1945. When he returned to Buffalo he continued his career as an optometrist and became active in local politics, including the local chapter of the communist party. As a result of these activities, Rog ovin was called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1957. He refused to cooperate with the committee, pleading his rights under the Fifth Amendment. He was ostracized upon his return to Buffalo and his optometry practice suf fered badly. It was at this time that Rogovin, aged 49, began his career as a photographer. His first project was a series of photographs taken of storefront churches in Buffalo's African-American community.

The photographic series on storefront churches was followed by other series that documented the lives of workers and people living in poverty. These series included more work in Buffalo's Lower West Side where he was able to photograph the same people over the course of three decades of their lives. He also photographed coal miners in Appalachia, Scotland, France, China, Mexico, and Spain. Rogovin is quoted as saying, "The rich have their photographers, I photograph the forgotten ones."

Rogovin earned his master of arts degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1972 and taught documentary photography there until 1974. His works have been published in at least four collections under his own name as well as in other col lections and numerous periodicals. Rogovin's photographs have also been exhibited at institutions across the United States and internationally, and are included in the collections of more than 20 institutions, including the Metropoliltan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House and the J. Paul Getty Center. Milton Rogovin donated his entire collection to the Library of Congress in 1999.

Scope and Content Note

Seventeen black and white photographs of storefront churches in Buffalo including interior shots during services and exterior shots of the buildings. This small collection chiefly focuses on the musical activities during the church services. The photographs are from a series by Rogovin titled Storefront churches 1958-61. It was with this series that Rogovin began his career as a photographer. Rogovin did not title individual photographs; titles as stated in the container list have been supplied for descriptive purposes.

Arrangement

One sequence of photographs without assigned order.

Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog.

Subjects

Genres