Charles Dawson (1889-1981) worked as a commercial artist in Chicago during the 1920s and 1930s; and then, as a curator of the Museum of Negro Art and Culture and the George Washington Carver Museum in Tuskegee during the 1940s. In 1951, Dawson retired to New Hope, Pennsylvania, where he lived until his death in 1981. There is no record of his creating any art for the last thirty years of his life.

A startling exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center unveils Dawson’s career as an illustrator for beauty schools and products, such as Annie Malone’s Poro College and Valmor Products of Chicago. As noted in the AIGA’s biography, “with the onset of the Great Depression, which struck Chicago very hard, Dawson managed to stay afloat largely through his work for Valmor Products Company. The owner of the company, Morton Neumann, who later became famous as one of Chicago’s great art collectors, refused to allow Dawson to sign his work.”

Dawson was the only black artist to have a substantial role in the 1933–1934 Century of Progress Fair, when he received a commission for a mural illustrating the Great Migration for the National Urban League’s display in the Hall of Social Science. He also designed, produced, and self-published a children’s book titled, ABCs of Great Negroes. The book consists of 26 portraits of African American and African leaders with brief biographies on the facing pages. The final page of text explains his inclusion of Ethiopian and Egyptian figures. Distinguished men and women include Neferti, Toussaint l’Ouverture, Rastafari, Frederick Douglas, Booker T. Washington, Alexander Pushkin, George Washington Carver, Kheops, as well as various educators, business and community leaders of the thirties.

Charles Dawson (1889-1981), ABC’s of Great Negroes (Chicago, Ill.: Dawson publishers, c1933). Cotsen Children’s Library (CTSN) Eng 20 13195

Get to the theater early to pick up your tickets for the 7:00 sneak preview of A Little Chaos today, June 17, at the Garden Theatre. Thanks to the co-sponsors: the Friends of the Princeton University Library and Renew Theaters 

http://princetongardentheatre.org/films/a-little-chaos

 A Little Chaos comes to the Princeton Garden Theatre for one night only on June 17, prior to its June 26 release. This special early screening is being presented in conjunction with the Princeton University Library’s current exhibition Versailles on Paper: A Graphic Panorama of the Palace and Gardens of Louis XIV, which continues through July 19.

The exhibition will stay open until 6:30 so you can drop by before going to see the movie. Alan Rickman both directs and stars in the historical drama, which was shot in England using Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, to represent the Palace at Versailles.Blenheim Palace: http://www.blenheimpalace.com/

About Renew Theaters: Renew manages the County, Ambler, and Hiway Theaters in Pennsylvania and the Princeton Garden Theatre in New Jersey. These historic movie houses function as arthouse cinemas, screening independent, foreign, and classic films for their local audiences.

For more information on the exhibition, see the website: http://rbsc.princeton.edu/versailles/.
For more information on the Garden Theater’s films and special events, see http://thegardentheatre.com/.

Princeton students will have the pleasure of reading David Mitchell’s new book, in 2115. The British novelist has been named as the second writer to contribute to Future Library, a public artwork by Scottish artist Katie Paterson that will unfold over the next 100 years. A thousand trees have been planted in Nordmarka, Norway, which will supply paper for a special anthology of books to be printed in 100 years’ time. Between now and then, one writer every year will contribute a text, with the writings held in trust, unpublished, until 2114. As a member of the Future Library, Princeton University Library will collect its new books in 100 years.

The first text has been written and delivered by the internationally renowned Canadian author Margaret Atwood, titled Scribbler Moon. David Mitchell will hand over his manuscript at a special ceremony in Norway in 2016. In the meantime, you can read other books by David Mitchell including: Ghostwritten (1999); Number9dream (2001); Cloud Atlas (2004); Black Swan Green (2006); Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet (2010); Reason I Jump (2013); and Bone Clocks (2014).

On being invited as the 2015 author David Mitchell commented:

“Civilisation, according to one of those handy Chinese proverbs, is the basking in the shade of trees planted a hundred years ago, trees which the gardener knew would outlive him or her, but which he or she planted anyway for the pleasure of people not yet born. I accepted the Future Library’s invitation to participate because I would like to plant such a tree. The project is a vote of confidence that, despite the catastrophist shadows under which we live, the future will still be a brightish place willing and able to complete an artistic endeavour begun by long-dead people a century ago. Imagine if the Future Library had been conceived in 1914, and a hundred authors from all over the world had written a hundred volumes between 1915 and today, unseen until now – what a human highway through time to be a part of. Contributing and belonging to a narrative arc longer than your own lifespan is good for your soul.”

Here are a few of the tin and paper boxes in the Graphic Arts Collection.