I remember the box being set in front of me, the anxiety and excitement swelling within. Because our box had been chosen for us, I had no idea what it had in store. It was almost like opening a treasure chest or scratching off a lotto scratcher, but rather we were opening a box of the George P Johnson Negro Film Collection hoping for a wealth of information and content. I was hoping for some good “material,” based upon the definition of material that “(in various non-physical applications) something which can be worked up or elaborated, or of which anything is composed.” I was hoping for something that would spark a passion in me, something that would trigger a flow of ideas and give me a really strong concept of the time George P Johnson lived in. I wanted my box to have something in it that would give me an “aha” moment that I’d simply know I wanted that in the exhibit.
Once the lid was flipped my eyes were drawn to the scrapbook in the front. The three of us, Aidan, Geena, and I, paid due respect to the folders and started with a folder of clippings from Billboard Magazine, but none of those really stood out.
When we finally opened the scrapbook in front, you could tell there was something a bit more substantial about it. I remember commenting that I could almost smell the glue stick he used to paste the newspaper clippings into the book. The black pages felt like construction paper I’d played with as a child for meaningless crafts, but this scrapbook was much more important. As we flipped through, the three of us searched for a meaning behind why he put the articles in the book in the way he did and why he chose the articles he did.
Because the finding aid described the collection as primarily being about Black film, we were surprised to see articles written in Negro news about instances of racism with no mention of the film industry or movies at all. Many articles were written about the KKK in Los Angeles or explicit racism at USC. George P Johnson would clip newspaper articles about the same story from multiple sources and annotate little scribbles about where he got the article and when. You could tell that above race film, George P Johnson cared deeply about documenting the racism felt by black people nationwide, and this is important because oftentimes, in the modern day, these narratives about racism concentrate in the South. It was different to be confronted with the racism that existed and prospered in Los Angeles or Mexico at the same time.
I think the scrapbook gave me context into what George P Johnson was concerned with. He was concerned about the condition of black people America in general, outside of the film industry, and he felt a duty to document it. Interacting with the scrapbook, with all of the work he put into it, gave me more of a sense of him as a person and his intentions.
Exactly, the work of George P. Johnson himself highlighted everything that he thought was important. From the telegrams he collected, to the segments of clippings he highlighted and circled as well as the personal notes that he left in the collection are what really made the exhibit so interesting. His collection satisfies the definition of materiality and creates for us an experience that cannot be created on the digital level. If his collection was on display, a digital segment might be a welcomed addition, but nothing can replace the authenticity of the artifacts.
I also found it impressive how much time and effort he had obviously put into saving all these various records, many of which seemed only peripherally related to race film. It was more difficult than expected to immediately find a cohesive narrative, partly because we only saw one of dozens of boxes, but like you mentioned there was so much unknown about Johnson’s intentions behind saving everything. Even without a complete understanding of his records, it was certainly effective in giving a sense of the time and society in which he lived, and that made me eager to learn more.
I had similar expectations going into Special Collections about wanting to have an “aha” moment. I experienced that moment when I flipped through miscellaneous photos and grabbed a clearer visual understanding of the world George P Johnson lived in. I love the way you captured your experience flipping through the scrapbook and actually smelling the glue. The overall experience, from the smells to touching the fragile objects, really made the experience more personable. I wish I had a chance to see the scrapbook and learn more about Johnson’s character and intentions.
I literally had exact same reaction when I first encountered the box at the Special Collections. I remember flipping through a scrapbook that had news articles about the coin shortage in the 60s and bunch of old papers with tables of coin values for Roosevelt Dimes. Looking at the scrapbook, I felt like I was being absorbed into an imagination which connected to the Johnson’s time and see how things were like back then. I appreciated your thoughtful description of the Black Film and the racism in regards to it because those are the things that Johnson mainly pursued in his life which I never had the chance to look at during our time at the Special Collections.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Although I wasn’t at the special collection, your description of the experience absolutely makes me understand the irreplaceable importance of being involved with a physical display. And as you have pointed out, there are far more information contained by the materials that can not be duplicated and expressed via a digital medium.