Tom & Ethel Bradley Center
Mission Statement
The mission of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center is to collect, preserve, and disseminate the visual history of the region with an emphasis on ethnic minority communities and photographers. The Bradley Center also promotes research, serves as a center for the exchange of ideas about our visual history, and contributes to the region’s educational efforts through our exhibitions, programs, and digital archives.Tom & Ethel Bradley Center
The Tom & Ethel Bradley Center's (Bradley Center) archives contain over one million images from Los Angeles based freelance and independent photographers between the 1930s to the present. Approximately 80% of the collection is comprised of African American photographers in and near Los Angeles. The Bradley Center is the only repository for photographs before 1993 from the Los Angeles Sentinel. Oral histories, manuscripts, and other ephemeral materials support the photographic collection. Additionally, the archives contain over six-dozen oral histories from African American photographers, Civil Rights leaders and organizers, individuals involved with the history of Los Angeles, Journalism, the group Mexicans in Exile, and the United Farmworkers. Audio and video comprise the collection along with the personal papers of many individuals and organizations. The manuscript collection contains the papers of many Los Angeles civic leaders, the AFL-CIO, AFT, CA Federation of Teachers, Community Relations Committee of the Jewish-Federation Council of L.A., CPPA, League of Women Voters of L.A., and the United Way of L.A. Other collections include the archives of Journalist Michael Emery and the United Farmworkers Organization. Additionally, the Bradley Center's Border Studies Collection examines the issues surrounding the border between the United States and Mexico.Photographers featured in this exhibition:
Harry Adams
The Harry Adams photograph collection contains 150,000 images for the period 1958-1988. The collection is rich in its depiction of the unique lives of African American life in and around the Los Angeles area. Adams worked as a free-lance news photographer for the California Eagle and the Los Angeles Sentinel. He photographed events for churches, social organizations, and private clients in the African American community. As one of the best-known people in the community, Adams was able to capture the inner circles of society, photographing politicians, entertainers and society figures in the City of Angels.
Charles Williams
As an official photographer for the California Eagle and the Los Angeles Sentinel, Charles Williams photographs shaped stories of the Los Angeles communities beginning in the 1930’s. In the 1940’s, it wasn’t just his pictures, but his story that made papers as he and his Japanese wife, Yoshi Kuwahara, were forced into a Japanese internment camp. After the war, Williams continued his career as a photographer for more than 40 years. The Williams Collection is approximately 10,000 images from 1940-1970 and features community events, celebrities, politicians, weddings, and churches.
View the Online Collections of Harry Adams and Charles WilliamsCredits
Exposed: Black History L.ALucy Hernandez, CA, Archivist, Tom & Ethel Bradley Center, CSUN
Loren Miller
Keith Rice, CA, Historian and Archivist Tom & Ethel Bradley Center, CSUN