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Morehead (Howard) photographs and papers
PASC-M.0142
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Howard Morehead photographs and papers
Creator:
Morehead, Howard
Identifier/Call Number: PASC-M.0142
Physical Description:
10.8 Linear Feet
(12 boxes, 4 shoe boxes, 6 flat boxes, 3 oversize flat boxes)
Date (inclusive): circa 1940-2002
Abstract: Howard Morehead was a photographer, broadcast news cameraman, and impresario. A native of Topeka, Kansas, he moved to Los
Angeles after World War II and joined the staff of the
Los Angeles Sentinel and did freelance work for a number of magazines. He also founded the Miss Bronze California beauty pageant as a reaction
to the systematic discrimination faced by African American women. The collection consists predominantly of photographs of
musicians and venues documenting the Los Angeles jazz scene from the mid-1950s through the 1990s. There are also a number
of actors and politicians represented. There is a very large amount of glamour photography featuring models and beauty pageant
contestants. Some personal and business papers are also present, as well as books, videotapes, and sound recordings from Morehead's
personal collection.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material:
English
.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
RESTRICTED ACCESS: Use of audiovisual material requires production of listening copies.
Conditions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
CONTAINS DIGITAL/AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS: This collection contains processed [digital/audiovisual] materials. All requests to
access digital materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
[Identification of item], Howard Morehead Photographs and Papers (Collection PASC-M 142). UCLA Library Special Collections,
Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID:
5331551
Gift of Howard Morehead, 2003.
Howard Morehead was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1926. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps and
was assigned to Tuskegee Army Airfield, where he began training as a pilot in anticipation of joining the pioneering Tuskegee
Airmen. The war ended before he saw combat, and after his discharge from the military he moved to Los Angeles.
After earning a degree in photography from Los Angeles City College, he joined the staff of the
Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper in 1950, and also freelanced for various magazines. Eventually he became the first West Coast staff photographer
for Johnson Publishing Company, contributing stories and covers for
Ebony and
Jet. A fan of jazz music, Morehead photographed many of the important musicians of his time, as well as many actors and politicians.
His interest in glamour photography and his awareness of racial discrimination inspired him to found the Miss Bronze L.A.
beauty contest in 1958, which soon expanded into the Miss Bronze California pageant, affording African American women the
opportunity to compete. In 1970, Morehead became the first African American hired as a staff cameraman for a Los Angeles television
station when he began working for KTLA. After a year, he moved to KABC, where he spent seventeen years as a cameraman before
retiring.
Morehead continued to document the Los Angeles jazz scene throughout the 1990s. He died in July, 2003.
The collection predominantly consists of photographs taken by Morehead, mostly of musicians and venues in Los Angeles from
the mid-1950s through the 1990s. Subjects include Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, and many others. There are also
a number of actors and politicians represented, including Diahann Carroll, Redd Foxx, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King,
Jr. Many of the most important photographs from Morehead's early career exist only as a single image. For instance, there
is one photograph of Dexter Gordon that Morehead clearly favored and replicated numerous times in different contexts. But
there is no negative of that photograph and no other images from the photo session.
There are, however, voluminous examples of glamour photography, with thousands of negatives of would-be models and actresses
posing in attitudes ranging from chaste portraiture to provocative nudity. Many of these photographs were related to the beauty
contests organized by Morehead.
The collection also includes some personal and business papers, as well as books, videotapes, and sound recordings from his
personal collection. Of particular interest in the papers is Morehead's correspondence with
Playboy, which repeatedly rebuffed his attempts to sell photographs of women of color to the magazine. Also noteworthy are documents
pertaining to Morehead's employment at KABC-TV, where he was reprimanded numerous times over the years, eventually prompting
him to file a racial-discrimination lawsuit.
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Photographs
- Series 2. Business and personal papers
- Series 3. Video cassettes
- Series 4. Sound recordings
- Series 5. Scrapbooks
- Series 6. Books
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Photographs.
Beauty contests
Glamour photography
Musicians -- Photographs.
Jazz -- California -- Los Angeles.
Morehead, Howard -- Archives