The Smith-Dominique Family Archives
Jim Crow to the 1970s
by Gene Dominique
My family has been documenting our lives for generations. The photographs in this series span the period 1895, during the Jim Crow era, when, as children, my great grandfather Henry and my great uncle Leon had their portraits made on the porch of a rural Palestine, Texas cabin to, 1970 when my father Gene Smith posed for a picture with the newly crowned Ms. Black America in New York City at the apex of the Civil Rights movement.
In order to appreciate the impact and importance of family pictures, it is critical to place them in the context of political and social events occurring during the time the pictures were made. We have done this with these selected photographs from the Smith-Dominique family archives. For example, the photograph of grandaunt Maddie is interesting in and of itself, with vintage cars and San Francisco homes in the background. But when we consider that in the 1930s when the photograph was made interstate travel and lodging in the United States was segregated, then we
understand how remarkable it is that Maddie made her way from New Orleans to San Francisco at all.
And consider the photograph of Gene Smith and Stephanie Clark. The photograph was made two years after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, known as the Fair Housing Act. That legislation outlawed racial discrimination in housing. In context, the photograph is important because it frames two elements of American history. In the business world, the 1970s was when American corporations began bringing African Americans into their executive ranks. My father, Gene Smith, was one of those Black executives at the Coca Cola company. And culturally, the Ms. Black America pageant was an essential alternative to the Ms. America pageant because rules of the latter excluded Black contestants until 1971.
So as you explore the photographs here, we invite you to consider the larger social and political context by imaging or investigating what was happening in the country and in the world at the time the photographs were made. This exercise will deepen the meaning and appreciation of the images.
Gene Dominique
Bio
I've been making pictures since the 1970s when I was a teenager in Berkeley, CA. My inspiration began with the photographs of Gordon Parks in Life Magazine and from the National Geographic photographers including LeRoy Woodson Jr. My mentors Terry Duran, Joe Swan and Jose Mercado made sure I knew the craft. My style is adventurous, witty and typically bold. Terry Duran taught me to master the technical issues. I hear Joe Swan in my head when I'm working. He would always say, "fill the frame!" And Jose Mercado, a proponent of "the print" reinforced the notion that a photograph is not finished until it is printed on paper. Relying on what I've learned and what I've taught others over the years, I get excited every time I have a new creative idea that challenges me to make something tangible.
