Guy (Robert L.), Jr. collection, approximately 1950s-1980s

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Summary

Title:
Robert L. Guy, Jr. collection
Dates:
approximately 1950s-1980s
Creators:
Guy, Robert L., Jr.
Abstract:
Personal materials and original art of Robert L. Guy Jr, a Los Angeles-based African American artist and street level activist.
Extent:
2.5 Linear Feet (1 carton, 2 flat boxes)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Robert L. Guy, Jr. collection, Wyles Mss 226. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection mostly contains material related to Guy's art displays, including original artwork and sketches, handmade crafts and souvenirs, handwritten drafts and copies of his manifestos, photographs of Guy's exhibits and paintings, and other ephemera he displayed around his paintings.

Also included are several personal audio and visual recordings taken by Guy, family photographs, and mixed professional materials.

Biographical / historical:

Robert L. Guy, Jr. grew up in the Jim Crow South in Meridian, Mississippi before moving to California sometime around 1952. While in Los Angeles in the 1960s and 70s, he participated in art shows and street fairs, including the Watts Summer Festival and the Los Angeles "Festival in Black", dressing up as the "Hoodlum Priest", displaying his artwork, distributing self-published radical manifestos, and selling handcrafted African American themed souvenirs under a business he named "Mini-Art." In 1971, he held a solo show at the Phillips Temple C.M.E. Church in South Los Angeles, titled "The Fantasy World of the Hoodlum Priest featuring Revelation Chapter 23."

Guy's paintings and collages were deeply political, exploring themes of slavery, equality, and civil rights. He pictured a "revolution of the revelation," which would result in a future in which tolerance and equality would become a matter of course. Meanwhile, in a nod to the importance of Black History, he displayed his pieces alongside Black Panther ephemera and clippings related to Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. In an attempt to bring this revolution about, Guy mimeographed his own manifestos, which proposed the creation of several African American organizations - the "Spade Militia," "The Black Vigilantes," and "The Supreme Intelligence Agency" - meant to replace law enforcement agencies and act to implement equal rights and tolerance for all.

(Adapted from seller's description.)

Acquisition information:
Purchase, January 2022.
Arrangement:

The collection has been arranged by topic into two series:

  • Series 1: Original artwork
  • Series 2: Personal and family history

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Rebecca Vasquez, March 2025.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2025-03-21 10:15:14 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@library.ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

Robert L. Guy, Jr. collection, Wyles Mss 226. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
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