A Series of Good Works: The Photographic Legacy of Reverend Lonzie Odie Taylor Public Deposited

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Last Modified
  • March 21, 2019
Creator
  • Ridder-Beardsley, Emily
    • Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of American Studies, Folklore Program
Abstract
  • This thesis addresses the life and photographic legacy of early 20th century African American photographer, Reverend Lonzie Odie Taylor. I argue the self-taught photographer and Baptist minister’s work helped shape narratives of self-definition in Memphis’ Black community in the 1930s and 1940s. Taylor’s images are grounded in his ideals and aspirations, highlighting themes of dignity, pride, and emancipation that counteract hegemonic stereotypes of Black communities promoted by outsiders in the Jim Crow South. This, I argue, reflects the construction of a productive new social imaginary, a concept borrowed from Charles Taylor. I conclude by arguing that, while many of L.O. Taylor’s contemporaries were championing the visualization of the “New Negro,” his position as photographer and minister provided him a unique opportunity to guide his community both spiritually and visually to aspire to self-determination, social mobility, and material success in a rapidly modernizing context.
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Rights statement
  • In Copyright
Advisor
  • Herman, Bernard
  • Clegg, Claude
  • Hinson, Glenn
Degree
  • Master of Arts
Degree granting institution
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Graduate School
Graduation year
  • 2017
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