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Title: Brockman Gallery Archive
Dates: 1940-2020 (bulk 1967-1990)
Collection Number: LA MSS 0002
Creator/Collector:
Brockman Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.).
Extent: 16.59 cubic feet; 17 boxes (10 archival bankers boxes, 5 Hollinger legal document boxes, 2 oversize boxes); 219.5 GB of digital
files.
Repository:
Los Angeles Public Library
Los Angeles, California 90071
Abstract: Brockman Gallery, located in a storefront in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles and founded by artists and brothers
Alonzo Davis and Dale Brockman Davis, was at the root of a community of Black artists from 1967-1990. The gallery, one of
the first Black art galleries in the United States, was named for the brothers’ grandmother, Della Brockman. It was, for a
time, supported by their work in arts education as teachers at Manual Arts High School (Alonzo) and Dorsey High School (Dale).
A goal of the gallery was to bring Black artists into the mainstream of the fine art world through exhibitions, sales, and
collecting. Its role was to provide encouragement and a venue for living artists, and to promote a greater public awareness
of Black artists. This was achieved through partnerships with community organizations and businesses, sales to collectors
and art institutions, and by exhibiting work in a wide variety of mediums and prices. The gallery promoted multiculturalism
and drew visitors and artists from many communities, including other minority artists and whites. Local artists including
Betye Saar, Timothy Washington, Charles White, John Riddle, John Outterbridge, Varnette Honeywood, Judy Baca, Willie Herron,
and Kent Twitchell exhibited work at the gallery. Nationally known artists were exhibited as well, including Elizabeth Catlett,
Romare Bearden, David Hammons, and Jacob Lawrence. Alonzo and Dale Davis established Brockman Productions in 1973, a non-profit
organization that received funding from the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs
department, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Language of Material: English
This collection is open for research by appointment only in the Rare Books reading room. Information about setting appointments
can be arranged by sending an email inquiry to rarebook [at] lapl.org and additional information can be found on the Library’s
website: https://www.lapl.org/branches/rarebooks.
[Identification of item]. Brockman Gallery Archive. Collection Number: LA MSS 0002. Los Angeles Public Library
Donated to the Los Angeles Public Library by Dale Brockman Davis in March 2019.
Biography/Administrative History
Brockman Gallery was named for Della Brockman. The family name dates back to the 1850s, to the great-grandfather of Dale and
Alonzo Davis, Aaron Brockman. He was the son of an enslaved Black woman and was born in the Brockman mansion in Greenville,
South Carolina. Aaron’s oldest daughter, Della Brockman, was educated at Clark University in Atlanta, where she met and married
Stephen E. Moses. The couple moved to Alabama and established themselves as educators, a value and livelihood that was embraced
and practiced by future generations. The Brockman family name is meaningful to Dale and Alonzo Davis as part of their family
history as Black Americans.
Dale Brockman Davis and Alonzo Davis spent much of their childhood growing up near Tuskegee University in Alabama, where their
father was a professor of psychology. Alonzo J. Davis earned a master's degree from Howard University and was a Professor
of Psychology at Tuskegee Institute. Agnes Lewis Moses Davis graduated from Talladega College, and taught at the Birmingham
Public School. Her parents were the educators Prof. S.E. Moses and Mrs. S.E. Moses. Following the divorce of their parents,
Dale and Alonzo moved with their mother, Agnes Moses Davis, to Los Angeles from Tuskegee, Alabama in 1955 as part of the Great
Migration.
Agnes Moses Davis, the mother of Dale and Alonzo, also known as Chief, and their aunt, Louise J. Moses, were engaged supporters
of Brockman Gallery, and influential community leaders in their own right. Louise Moses and Agnes Davis were charter members
of the California Librarians Black Caucus. Before passing, the sisters were continual supporters of the Caucus. Louise Moses
was employed by the Los Angeles County Public Library and developed innovative reading programs for young people at Juvenile
Hall and in the Compton community. Louise Moses ended her career as a Supervisor of the AC Bilbrew Library, a Los Angeles
County Public Library. Agnes Davis was a Children’s Librarian at the Los Angeles Public Library.
Scope and Content of Collection
Contains photographs, correspondence, and print materials including ephemera, press clippings, flyers, publications, and brochures
that pertain to the administrative activities, exhibitions and events of Brockman Gallery, Brockman Gallery Productions, Brockman
Productions, Brockman Gallery & Associates, and Brockman for the Cultural Arts, as well as a wider community of Black artists
and organizations. There are substantial records that document the art career of Alonzo Davis. Photographs include images
of activities and events such as the Brockman Gallery opening night reception in 1967, Leimert Park cultural events, and mural
projects, as well as portraits of artists and their work. Materials date from a 1940 article in The Pittsburgh Courier titled
Moses-Davis Wedding in Birmingham Pretty that documents the wedding of Alonzo J. Moses and Agnes Lewis Moses, to recent press
coverage of Dale Brockman Davis in T: The New York Times Style Magazine in the 2020 article How a Trio of Black-Owned Galleries
Changed the Art World. Most of the materials were produced between the years 1967-1990, when Brockman Gallery was open for
business.
Galleries--California--Los Angeles.
Art Galleries, Commercial--California--Los Angeles.
African American artists--California--Los Angeles.
African American art--Social aspects--California--Los Angeles--20th century.
Black Arts Movement.
Davis, Dale, 1945-
Davis, Alonzo.
Brockman Gallery (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Brockman Gallery Productions (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Black Arts Council (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Los Angeles (Calif.)