1908

Born July 2, in Pittsburgh, Charles "Teenie" Harris is the youngest son of William Franklin and Ella Mae "Olga" Taliaferro Harris, owners of the Masio Hotel on Wylie Avenue in the Hill District.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Portrait of Ella Mae "Olga" Taliaferro Harris, mother of Charles "Teenie" Harris, wearing eyeglasses, light colored crocheted cap, and patterned dress, standing in front of ornate curio cabinet, possibly in Harris' home at 7604 Mulford Street, Homewood, c. 1930–1945
2001.35.40188

c. 1921

Harris completes the eighth grade at the Watt School (now the Robert L. Vann School) in the Hill District.

Unknown photographer
Group portrait of nine young men and women, including Charles "Teenie" Harris, in center front, posed in room with sign on back wall reading "...Benedict...Holy Cross...", c. 1920
2001.35.8298

1926

Harris plays and coaches the Paramount A. C. basketball team, later becoming the Hotel Bailey Big Five Team. He continues to play and manage teams to the mid-1940s.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Group portrait of young men and women, including Ruth Butler, middle row, on left, gathered on porch of wooden house, street number 225, c. 1925
2001.35.8223

mid- to late 1920s

Harris works in the Masio Hotel and for his brother William "Woogie" Harris (1896–1967). Woogie was a numbers baron and also owned the Crystal Barber Shop on Wylie Avenue.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Charles "Teenie" Harris wearing "H.B." sweatshirt, standing outside of Masio Hotel and Indoor Golf, Hill District, c. 1925–1934
1996.90.9

1927

Harris marries Ruth M. Butler, and they have a son, Charles A. Harris. They live at Watt Street and Bedford Avenue in the Hill District. The couple separates in 1934.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Portrait of Charles A. "Little Teenie" Harris wearing plaid suit, seated in chair, in Harris Studio, c. 1935–1940
2001.35.24004

late 1920s

Harris becomes a co-founder of the Pittsburgh Crawfords Negro League baseball team. He plays until the early 1930s.

Charles "Teenie" Harris, copyist
Copy of a photograph of Pittsburgh Crawfords baseball team, standing left to right: Nate, co-founder Bill Harris, Harry Beall, Buster Christian, and Jasper Stevens; seated left to right: William Smith, Tootsie Deal, Julius, Whitey Turner, Reece Mosby, Bill Jones, co-founder Charles "Teenie" Harris, and Johnny Moore, 1926
2001.35.9090

1933

William Franklin Harris, Teenie's father, dies March 20, and the family closes the Masio Hotel.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Three men, including William "Monk" Harris, father of Charles "Teenie" Harris on left, seated in front of Masio Hotel with poster for Nixon Theatre for Friday May 27 with titles in Hebrew, c. 1927–1932
2001.35.2145

early to mid-1930s

Harris buys his first professional camera and begins to photograph local and visiting celebrities for Flash! newspicture magazine, based in Washington D.C.

Unknown photographer
Copy of Flash Magazine headline with photograph of photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris holding camera and standing on sidewalk, c. 1930–1940
1996.90.37

c. 1936

Harris is operating a photographic studio in the Hill District, opened with $3,500 from his brother Woogie. He first names it "Flash Studio," then has a listing in the Pittsburgh city directory: Harris Studio (Charles T. Harris), 2128 Centre Avenue, "Commercial photographs, portraiture and commercial motion pictures taken and shown."

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Self-portrait of Charles "Teenie" Harris holding large light-colored hat, and leaning against studio prop, in Harris Studio, c. 1941
2001.35.6608

c. 1938

Harris works as a freelance photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the country's largest-circulation Black newspapers.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Charles "Teenie" Harris' 1941 Cadillac Fleetwood car parked in front of his studio at 2128 Centre Avenue, with Smith's Dressmaking and Dry Cleaning next door, Hill District, c. 1941–1945
2001.35.3122

c. 1941

Harris accepts a job as staff photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Portrait of Elsa Lee Elliott Harris, wife of Charles "Teenie" Harris, wearing light-colored suit, seated in grass on top of hill, with University of Pittsburgh and Cathedral of Learning in background, Oakland, c. 1940–1950
2001.35.24402

1944

Harris marries Elsa Lee Elliott. They have four children: Ira Vann Harris (b. 1944), Lionel L. Harris (b. 1945), Crystal Harris (b. 1951), and Cheryl A. Harris (b. 1954).

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Portrait of Elsa Harris wearing striped dress, seated in armchair holding Ira Vann Harris, in Charles "Teenie" Harris' house at 7604 Mulford Street, 1944
2001.35.24432

1945

Harris exhibits his photographs at the First Annual Photographers Show at the Centre Avenue YMCA and receives award for his photograph Cotton Candy.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Portrait of Lionel Harris wearing light-colored floral top, seated in toy vehicle, in Charles "Teenie" Harris' house at 7604 Mulford Street, c. 1945
2001.35.24428

1953

Harris closes the Harris Studio at 2128 Centre Avenue and moves the darkroom to his home at 7604 Mulford Street in Homewood.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Interior of Charles "Teenie" Harris' basement at 7604 Mulford Street, with model train, photographic enlarger, chemical trays and darkroom equipment, and photographic negative and paper boxes stacked on shelves, c. 1945–1975
2001.35.13892

1955

The first listing appears in Pittsburgh city directories for Harris as "photographer, Pittsburgh Courier."

c. 1975

Harris retires from the Pittsburgh Courier.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
Four men, including Charles "Teenie" Harris second from left, gathered around desk with NNPA trophies, with display of 1968 National Newspaper Publishers Association awardees in background, c. 1968–1969
2001.35.9547

1986

Harris signs a management agreement with Dennis Morgan, Pittsburgh artist and entrepreneur. Harris' archive is housed at the University of Pittsburgh until 1988. The first public exhibition in Pittsburgh of Harris' photographs is organized by University of Pittsburgh sociology professor Rollo Turner, at the Kingsley House.

1988

Dennis Morgan forms the commercial Pittsburgh Courier Photographic Archive, based on his collection of negatives by Harris and other photographers.

1991

The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission issues a resolution for Harris' "Outstanding contribution made to the documentation of the African American Community in Pittsburgh."

1992

Pittsburgh City Councilman Duane Darkins issues a resolution declaring that Harris' "works are a permanent record of African Americans' achievements and contribution to mankind."

1997

Carnegie Museum of Art purchases 27 vintage Harris prints from the Pittsburgh Courier Photographic Archive for its exhibition Pittsburgh Revealed and accepts the gift of approximately 3,500 vintage prints. Pittsburgh circa 1930–1970: Photographs by Charles "Teenie" Harris opens at the Silver Eye Center for Photography and the Kingsley Center. Harris receives Lifetime Achievement Award from Silver Eye Center for Photography for "photographic contribution to the history of Pittsburgh." Elsa Harris dies.

1998

Harris sues Dennis Morgan for noncompliance with their 1986 contract. Along with the Pittsburgh Courier, he receives the George Polk Career Award. Harris dies on June 12.

2000

The lawsuit is settled, and the archive is turned over to the Harris family.

2001

Spirit of a Community: The Photographs of Charles "Teenie" Harris, a retrospective exhibition of Harris' work, opens at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. One Shot: The Photographs of Charles "Teenie" Harris, a book by Stanley Crouch, is published; and the documentary film One Shot: The Life and Work of Teenie Harris premieres. Carnegie Museum of Art purchases the archive and all rights from Harris' estate. Harris wins 2001 Unsung Hero Award presented by the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses and Museum of Americas.

2002

Harris receives President's Award from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania. With support from The Heinz Endowments and the Institute for Museums and Library Services, Carnegie Museum of Art develops plans to preserve the archive, catalog its contents, and make images publicly available on the museum's Web site and the Historic Pittsburgh Project Web site.

2003

Carnegie Museum of Art seeks community assistance identifying Harris' subjects through The Trolley Station Oral History Center and Documenting Our Past: The Teenie Harris Archive Project, Part One.

2005

Carnegie Museum of Art receives a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to catalog and scan approximately 30,000 negatives. Harris is inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame.

2006

Documenting Our Past: The Teenie Harris Archive Project, Part Two opens. To date, 8,000 negatives have been scanned, and 14,000 negatives have been cataloged. Looking Forward: Images of Children by Charles "Teenie" Harris exhibition opens at the African American Cultural Center (now the August Wilson Center for African American Culture) in Pittsburgh, with approximately 50 images from the archive.

2007

Carnegie Museum of Art receives a second grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to catalog and scan approximately 30,000 negatives.

2009

January 15 is declared "Teenie" Harris Day by the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Harris receives the 2009 Spirit of King Award presented by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, The Kingsley Association, and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Documenting Our Past: The Teenie Harris Archive Project, Part Three opens. To date, 57,000 negatives have been scanned, and 67,000 negatives have been cataloged.