The sale was led by the 80-page The Negro Travelers’ Green Book, the vital travel guide for Black families from the late 1950s with listings of Black-friendly service stations, hotels, nightclubs and restaurants arranged by state across the United States. It soared from a $12/18,000 estimate to a final price of $35,000.
Review by W.A. Demers; Photos Courtesy Swann Galleries
NEW YORK CITY — Swann Galleries’ March 21 auction of printed and manuscript African Americana was the firm’s largest offering of the material to date, totaling 469 lots. In this sale, bidders could find important documentation of the abolition movement, catalogs and posters for exhibits by leading Black artists, Black Panther material that was previously unseen as well as material relating to Black-owned businesses.
The sale brought $967,061, with an 81 percent sell-through rate by lot. There were 281 registered buyers with 22 of those being new to Swann.
The sale was led by The Negro Travelers’ Green Book, the vital travel guide for Black families from the late 1950s in the United States when a long-distance drive would be a cause for apprehension about finding lodging, gasoline or even a restroom. Edited by Victor H. Green, the 80-page guide soared from a $12/18,000 estimate to a final price of $35,000. The book’s contents consisted of listings of Black-friendly service stations, hotels, nightclubs and restaurants, arranged by state across the United States — North and South. “Carry your Green Book with you…You may need it!,” the cover of this edition states. The last Green Book was printed in 1966.
The short-lived Green Book competitor, The Bronze American National Travel Guide, 1963-64, was made obsolete by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Estimated just $2/3,000, it rose to $12,500.
A Green Book competitor, The Bronze American National Travel Guide, 1963-64, was one of the last two known editions of the guide; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it instantly obsolete. In this edition a foreword explained that “racial discrimination has been and still is a very dominant feature on the American scene.” Estimated just $2/3,000, it rose to $12,500.
Records of Hyde Park plantation in Nottaway County, Va., listing the names of those who were enslaved, along with letters by starving enslaved Confederate workers, made up a five-volume set plus 46 other items in one box. The circa 1794-1936 documents realized $27,500.
Material related to the Civil War included a badge issued to a private in the the 54th Massachusetts regiment, who was wounded at Fort Wagner, circa 1864 ($12/18,000). Bid to $21,250, the badge was issued to a soldier serving in the most renowned Black regiment of the Civil War. The 1989 film Glory was based upon their exploits, including the Battle of Fort Wagner. In the center of the badge there is an image that appears to depict South Carolina’s Fort Sumter with an American flag flying overhead. Engraved at the ends of the cross are the regiment’s four most notable battles — Darien, James Island, Wagner and Olustee, and above the central image is engraved “J.H. Jackson, 54th Ms. Vol., Co. A.” for the badge’s recipient Private James Henry Jackson (circa 1845-1904) of Company A. A waiter in Great Barrington, Mass., when he enlisted at age 18.
This Civil War-era badge issued to a private in the “Glory” regiment, the 54th Massachusetts, who was wounded at Fort Wagner, circa 1864, was bid to $21,250. The 1989 film Glory was based upon the regiment’s exploits, including the Battle of Fort Wagner.
Also pertaining to the Civil War was a large archive of personal and official papers of a lieutenant with the 22nd United States Colored Troops detailing experiences in various places 1849-1904. More than 400 items were contained in one box, which sold for $13,750.
There were two notable lots relating to Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer and statesman. One, titled Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Boston, 1845, quadrupled its high estimate to earn $16,250. The other, rising to $12,500 against a $5/7,000 estimate, was Douglass’ letter on the controversial “Colored American Day” at the 1893 World’s Fair, enclosing a pair of tickets. The typed letter was addressed to F.P. Noble, secretary of the African Congress.
In the entertainment/theater category, a broadside for Ira Aldridge’s performance of Shakespeare and Jim Crow took $27,000, more than six times its high estimate. Ira Frederick Aldridge (1807-1867) was an African American actor. Born in New York, he emigrated in 1824 in search of opportunities in the regional theaters of Great Britain and Ireland, often introducing himself as a native of Africa. He played Othello at Covent Garden’s Theatre Roya, and enjoyed a long career as one of England’s leading actors.
In the field of musical entertainment, was a poster for The Greater Black Patti Troubadours, featuring Black Patti (Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones). The poster surpassed its estimate, $5/7,500, to settle at $18,750.
Also entertainment-related but in the field of music was a poster for The Greater Black Patti Troubadours, featuring Black Patti (Madame Sissiereta Jones). The poster also surpassed its estimate, $5/7,500, to settle at $18,750.
Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones (1868-1933) was a popular Rhode Island-raised soprano. The “Black Patti” moniker came from Italian singer Adelina Patti, to whom Jones was often compared. Successful in operatic roles, she was drawn to vernacular music as the leader of Black Patti’s Troubadours, accompanied by vaudeville performers. This poster dates from the period when the troupe was managed by Voelckel & Nolan.
From the abolition movement came a carte de visite album that included portraits of Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists. It went out at $21,250.
Papers of the Garveyite and Trotskyist activist Simon Williamson of New York surpassed their $2/3,000 estimate to leave the gallery at $18,750. Williamson was a radical Garveyite and Trotskyist activist. This collection included four pieces of correspondence and dozens of typescript essays and articles written by Williamson during the 1930s, both for his political activism and for his work with the Federal Writers’ Project.
Civil Rights were notably represented by papers of the Garveyite and Trotskyist activist Simon Williamson of New York, which surpassed their $2/3,000 estimate to leave the gallery at $18,750. Simon Williamson was a radical Garveyite and Trotskyist activist. Born in 1908 and raised in Kansas City, he was active in the Kansas City branch of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association, and became involved in the Workers Party, a Trotskyist splinter of the Communist Party. He was sent to organize Black workers in Harlem in 1934. This collection included four pieces of correspondence, and dozens of typescript essays and articles written by Williamson during the 1930s, both for his political activism and for his work with the Federal Writers’ Project.
An interesting lot in the realm of photography was a portrait of a bride and groom by Winifred Hall that ignored its $1,5/2,500 estimate and sold instead for $15,000. Hall emigrated from Jamaica at age 18, attended the New York Institute of Photography and became a female Harlem contemporary of James Van Der Zee. Her photography career was short, having given it up in 1950 to become a nurse. Swann traced only one other of her photographs at auction, sold as part of the archives of the Mwalimu School in 2003.
Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. For additional information, 212-254-4710 or www.swanngalleries.com.
