PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (January 25, 2022) – Prairie View A&M University today announced it is one of four recipients of the inaugural Getty Images Photo Archive Grant for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), an initiative aimed at preserving and amplifying the invaluable visual history of HBCUs.
Funding from the grant will help support the digitization of roughly 50,000 rarely seen archival photographs from Prairie View A&M’s library, including stories of migration movements, voting rights, housing displacement and injustices, Black women in politics, and Black family life within Texas communities. It also includes the legacy of Elnora Teal and the Teal Portrait Studio, a rare look into the work of a Black female photographer. Claflin University, Jackson State University and North Carolina Central University were also selected as recipients of the grant.
“This assistance is timely and important to the preservation of the unique history of our 145-year-old university,” said Ruth J. Simmons, president of Prairie View A&M University. “We are grateful to Getty Images for valuing the preservation of these images.”
Launching today on gettyimages.com, the “Historically Black Colleges & Universities Collection” will see thousands of images added throughout 2022. Archivists and librarians from PVAMU will work alongside Getty Images’ team of archivists and Adnet Global, a renowned post-production agency that specializes in the digitization, restoration and discoverability of visual analog historic libraries, in the photo digitization process.
“The applications submitted for the Getty Images HBCU Photo Archive Grant prove the wealth of American history which has yet to be explored,” said Cassandra Illidge, VP of Partnerships at Getty Images. “Getty Images is proud to partner with archivists at each of the four HBCUs to uncover rarely seen photographs of Black culture and ensure these historical artifacts are preserved and accessible to storytellers around the world. This year’s Grant is just the beginning of our work helping to preserve HBCUs history and our commitment to the HBCU community.”
Grant recipients will retain all copyright of their photos, and once digitized, the historical content will be placed in a newly created stand-alone photo collection dubbed the “HBCU Photo Collection,” which will be made available for licensing in early 2022.
All revenue generated from the images that are preserved through the Grants will be funneled back into impact programs: 50% will go to grant recipients; 30% of revenue will be used for a financial donation to a scholarship fund focused on furthering the education of students at HBCUs; and 20% will be reinvested to fund the Getty Images Photo Archive Grants for HBCUs each year.
The applications were judged by an esteemed panel which included:
- Dr. Deborah Willis, Academic Director, Professor & Chair at NYU Tisch School of the Arts
- Aba Blankson, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer at NAACP
- Dr. Tukufu Zuberi, Professor of Sociology – The Lasry Family Professor of Race Relations at University of Pennsylvania
- Renata Cherlise, Founder of Blackarchives.co
- Raina Kelley, Vice President and Editor in Chief of The Undefeated
- Mercedes Cooper, Vice President, Public Programming at ARRAY
The Getty Images Photo Archive Grants for HBCUs is part of Getty Images’ commitment to anti-racism, inclusion, and dismantling discrimination, including bringing to market unseen historical content and creating revenue streams for organizations working to build a more inclusive society. It is part of the company’s wider grants program, which has donated over US$1.8 million to photographers and videographers around the world since its inception.
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