African Americana

3 3/8 x 5 1/4 in. real photo postcard (vertical line abrasion to image along right side, some wear to edges and corners). Van Vechten's blindstamp to lower edge. Dee stands against a patterned backdrop, wearing an off-the-shoulder dress and large necklace. She looks upwards and positions her hands as if in the middle of clapping. 

Ruby Dee (1922-2014) was famous for a multitude of roles, both as a groundbreaking African American actress in plays and films like "A Raisin in the Sun," and as a civil rights activist, emceeing such events as the 1963 March on Washington. Her acting career would go on to span 7 decades, and her voice would be a prominent one in the fight for equality. As a result, Dee was honored by multiple organizations and institutions, including the national Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, who chose her as the recipient of a lifetime achievement award in 2005.

Carl Van Vechten was well-connected to the people and places of the Harlem Renaissance at a time when racial segregation and Jim Crow laws were intense. Throughout the 1920s, he indulged in the parties and social scene of New York's Black creative class, which he captured in his provocatively titled novel Nigger Heaven. When the Depression came, he stopped writing novels and began taking photographs, most notably of influential African Americans, taking iconic portraits of thought leaders, entertainment stars, sports figures, artists, writers of the Harlem Renaissance, and more. His collection of over 9000 images, mostly portraits, is held at the Beinecke Library at Yale University.