Charles White and the Laboring of the Chicago Black Renaissance
This talk examines the prolific career of painter and muralist Charles White. Erik Gellman explains how White’s career embodies the cultural vision shared by many of the black artists who made Chicago the nation’s focus of artistic production during the New Deal era. Moreover, this talk explores artistic collaborations across the color line and the connections between these artists and civil rights unionism and the development of the “Black Metropolis” in Chicago.
Erik Gellman, a professor in the History and Philosophy Department at Roosevelt University, holds a B.A. from Bates College and Ph.D. in History from Northwestern University. Specializing in the 19th and 20th Century United States, Gellman's research interests include African American and working-class history, social movements, and comparative ethnic and racial studies. He is the author of recent articles in the Journal of Southern History and Labor and is currently working on two forthcoming books, Labor's New Deal Prophets and Death Blow, Jim Crow!
