Charles "Teenie" Harris (1908–1998) photographed the events and daily life of African Americans for the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the nation’s most influential Black newspapers. One of the paper’s principal photographers from the 1930s to 1970s, Harris documented nearly all of the notable events in the city at that time, as well as a wide range of activities in daily life, including Little League games, weddings, church groups, nightlife, and beauty contests.

In 2001, Carnegie Museum of Art purchased Harris’ archive of nearly 80,000 photographic negatives, few of which are titled and dated. The archive, a richly detailed record of public personalities and events, and the lives of average people, is considered one of the most important documentations of 20th-century African American life. Since 2003, the museum has scanned and cataloged nearly 60,000 images, many of which are available on the online collection database. Through outreach efforts, lectures and special events, and three Teenie Harris Archive Project exhibitions (in 2003, 2006, and 2009), the museum has asked for assistance in identifying the people, places, and events in the images. So far, 2,000 images have been positively identified with help from the community.

As caretaker of the archive, the museum is committed to providing access to these images as an invaluable historical and educational resource. If you can help reconstruct the “story behind the picture,” please share this information by using the e-mail link included in every Teenie Harris negative record in our online database.

Vintage prints and negatives in the Teenie Harris Archive were acquired with funds provided by the Heinz Family Fund, the Second Century Acquisition Fund, Milton and Nancy Washington, and by gift of the artist and the Harris Estate. General support for museum programs is provided by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Heinz Endowments, and Allegheny County Regional Asset District. Cataloging and scanning of the Teenie Harris Archive is supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Grant for Preserving and Creating Access to Humanities Collections.

Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this release or the mentioned exhibitions and programs do not necessarily reflect those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.