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Finding Aid for the Howard Morehead Papers 1945-2003
142
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Title: Howard Morehead Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1945-2003
Collection number: 142
Creator: Morehead, Howard
1926-2003
Repository:
University of California, Los Angeles. Library.
Performing Arts Special Collections
Los Angeles, California 90095-1575
Abstract: Howard Morehead was a highly regarded Los Angeles
still and video news photographer. Over the course of his career, he
photographed many of the important jazz musicians of his time, including Ray
Charles (album covers), Aretha Franklin, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Miles
Davis, Dexter Gordon, among others. The collection consists of photographs,
taken by Morehead, of jazz musicians in Los Angeles. Finding aid in process.
Former title Howard Morehead Collection of Photographs and Papers
COLLECTION PARIALLY STORED OFF-SITE: Advance notice required for access.
Contact UCLA Performing Arts Special Collections for paging information.
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Music
Library Special Collections. Literary 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.
[Identification of item], Howard Morehead Papers, 142, Music Library Special
Collections, University of California, Los Angeles.
Gift; Howard Morehead; 2003.
Howard Morehead was born and raised in Topeka, Kansas where he graduated from
Topeka High School. Upon graduation, he joined the Air Corps, becoming a pilot
in Tuskegee, Alabama. In 1946, after his tour of duty he moved to Los Angeles to
attend UCLA. He transferred to Los Angeles City College were he earned a degree
in photography. He later studied journalism at Los Angeles State College. He
attended the University of Southern California and the University of California,
Los Angeles, to further study motion picture photography. Howard joined the
staff of the Los Angeles Sentinel newspaper in 1950, later freelancing for
various newspapers and magazines. He became the first West Coast staff
photographer for Johnson Publishing Company. He subsequently became known for
the many covers he photographed for Ebony magazine and for the Jet magazine
centerfold. In 1970, Howard became the first African American in Los Angeles
hired as a staff cameraman for television station KTLA. After a year, he moved
to KABC-TV where he spent seventeen years as a cameraman before retiring.
Morehead photographed most of the important jazz musicians of his time,
including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Miles
Davis and others. He shot album covers for Ray Charles and jazz great Dexter
Gordon. His photographs appeared in newspapers, magazines, books, television and
album covers. He had two tunes recorded in his honor: "Blues for Howard" by
Buddy Collette and "Ballad for a Bronze Beauty" by Teddy Edwards. The latter
piece was created because Howard was the producer of the popular Miss Bronze
California Beauty Pageant and the Bronze Beauty calendar, which won awards for
Best Glamour Photography from the Calendar Marketing Association.
Morehead also traveled extensively, and photographed in China, Russia, Japan,
Singapore, Indonesia, East and West Africa. He died in July, 2003.
Predominantly photographs taken by Morehead of jazz musicians and venues in
Los Angeles. Also includes some correspondence, personal and business papers, as
well as books, videotapes, and LP recordings from his personal collection.
The collection is organized into the following series:
- Series 1. Photographs by Howard Morehead
- Series 2. Correspondence
- Series 3. Business Documents, Articles, Essays and Stories
- Series 4. Books
- Series 6. Video Cassettes
- Series 7. Sound Recordings
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Jazz musicians--Portraits
Jazz--California--Los
Angeles