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Fred W. McDarrah Gay Pride Photographs Collection

Call Number

MSS.193

Date

1964-1993, inclusive

Creator

McDarrah, Fred W., 1926-2007 (Role: Photographer)

Extent

0.3 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The Fred W. McDarrah Gay Pride Photographs Collection contains portraits of iconic gay figures, as well as photos of demonstrations, parades and other events from 1964 to 1993.

Biographical Note

Fred McDarrah was a staff photographer for New York's Village Voice. For many years, his pictures chronicled the people and events of New York's flourishing nightlife and activist communities.

Born in Brooklyn in 1926, McDarrah spent his young adulthood as an Army paratrooper, photographing the U.S. occupation of Japan after World War II. He returned to New York and completed NYU's journalism program in 1954. Starting at the Voice in 1959, McDarrah set out to document the Village scene, capturing iconic images of burgeoning artists, musicians, performers and activists. He published his photos in a number of books over the course of his career.

In his introduction to The Artist's World in Pictures, Thomas B. Hess writes, "McDarrah does not claim his photographs are art. He claims they are a part of truth. ...And they have something to do with justice" (11). McDarrah cared little for the artistic merit of his photographs, applying a journalistic objectivity to his work at all times.

At his death in 2007, McDarrah was still consulting photo editor with theVoice.

Sources:

Fox, Margarit. "Fred W. McDarrah, Photographer, Dies at 81." The New York Times, November 8, 2007.

McDarrah, Fred W. The Artist's World in Pictures. Introduction by Thomas B. Hess. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1961.

Arrangement

The photographs in the Fred McDarrah Collection are arranged chronologically. Three oversize prints are housed in a map case separate from the rest of the items. Work titles and dates are derived from McDarrah's own annotations on each print.

Scope and Contents

The Fred W. McDarrah Gay Pride Photographs Collection is composed of photographs taken between the years 1964 and 1993, primarily documenting the Gay Rights Movement in America. The collection contains portraits of iconic gay figures, as well as photos of demonstrations, parades and other events.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open for research. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); Fred W. McDarrah Gay Pride Photographs Collection; MSS 193; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.

Provenance

The Fred W. McDarrah Gay Pride Photographs Collection was donated to the Fales Library by Fred McDarrah in 2006.

Collection processed by

Colin Torre, 2012. Updated by Nicholas Martin, 2012.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-02-06 14:16:15 -0500.
Language: Description written in English

Repository

Fales Library and Special Collections
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012