Art expert reflects on his work in DC at the nation’s first private gallery owned by African-Americans

As an art student at Howard University in 1949, David Driskell spent his evenings working as a taxicab driver to make extra income. But it was his daytime job that sparked his lifelong career as a scholar, painter and authority on African-American art: As curator of the Barnett Aden Gallery, Driskell contributed to the growth and influence of the nation’s first African-American-owned private gallery, originally located at 127 Randolph Place NW in DC’s Bloomingdale neighborhood.  

In October, the Barnett Aden Gallery celebrated the 75th anniversary of its 1943 launch by Howard University professors Alonzo Aden and James V. Herring. In addition to their teaching duties, Herring chaired Howard’s Department of Art and Aden served as a curator at Howard’s Gallery of Art. But the two colleagues also saw a need for a new, independent gallery, which they named after Aden’s mother, Naomi Barnett Aden. The gallery operated until 1969.

At a Dec. 13 event hosted by the DC Public Library as part of its People’s University initiative, Driskell spoke at length about his experiences attending Howard and curating the still-nascent gallery, as well as his relationships with and observations of the two founders. He also spoke about the gallery’s powerful influence on the history of African-American art in the District in the late 1940s and ’50s. Marya McQuirter — who shepherded a multimedia project about 1968 and wrote a guide to the African American Heritage Trail, Washington, DC, which includes the Barnett Aden Gallery as one of 100 sites marked with plaques — moderated the discussion at the Shaw (Watha T. Daniel) Neighborhood Library.

From his humble beginnings as an art student, Driskell emerged as a leading authority on African-American art, having written extensively on the history, influence and role of black artists in the United States. After graduating from Howard, he earned a master’s degree in art at Catholic University of America and taught at Talladega College, Fisk University and Howard, as well as several other institutions in the U.S. and Nigeria as a visiting professor. In 1977, he became a faculty member at the University of Maryland in College Park, where he remained for two decades. Following his retirement in 1998, the university established the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the African Diaspora. Two years later, President Bill Clinton awarded Driskell the Presidential Medal as a National Endowment for the Humanities recipient. Last year, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Still, Driskell looks back fondly on two of his early mentors.

“I think Mr. Herring and Mr. Aden were really universal figures in the sense that race was important. They were very proud of their heritage. Neither one of them looked black, [but] they were really black and they let you know it,” Driskell said at the event. “They felt that art was one of those disciplines that had no boundaries almost, and I think a part of that was the company they kept.”

Driskell explained that Herring and Aden had relationships with New York City art scene luminary Edith Halpert of Downtown Gallery, as well as with representatives of Kraushaar Galleries. In many ways, Aden and Herring shared the philosophy of their counterparts in New York, “where art was art,” Driskell said. “It didn’t matter about the color [of one’s skin] — if you had quality work, they would look at it and entertain the notion of showing it.”

The Barnett Aden Gallery was an unprecedented establishment in a highly segregated city in a highly segregated country, Driskell explained. The gallery served as cultural institution and a destination for all — painters, musicians, poets, writers and politicians — but especially for African-Americans who were unwelcome at other art galleries or museums in the city. The gallery showed works by all artists — regardless of race — but exemplified “that whole notion of providing a place of service, because there was no such place in Washington that African-Americans could go,” Driskell said.

Driskell recounted that the Barnett Aden Gallery was recognized and celebrated by artists across the city, paving the way for the expansion and growth of African-American art in the District. He recalled meeting Duncan Phillips, founder of the Phillips Collection, who was a patron and early and active supporter of the gallery.

With many of DC’s established art institutions and galleries rejecting or ignoring artwork by black artists, the Barnett Aden Gallery had an essential role in providing opportunities for African-American artists to exhibit and showcase their work, Driskell said. Influential artists such as Alma Thomas, Lois Mailou Jones and Jacob Lawrence exhibited their works at the gallery.

Though the gallery closed in 1969 after the deaths of Aden and Herring, the local black art scene had already started to grow. In 1977, there were 24 galleries in the District owned by African-Americans, Driskell said.

“I think the most important lesson is, that here was a place that was all but out of place, and beyond its time in a segregated city like Washington,” Driskell said of the gallery’s formative years. “These two gentlemen did not allow that kind of thought process to hinder them from making progress, which was recognized not only in Washington, but around the nation. It’s a matter of trial and error and sticking to it, and that’s what they did, they set an example and proved that it could be done.”

The Dec. 13 talk at the Shaw library was part of the ongoing People’s University initiative sponsored by DC Public Library’s Special Collections to commemorate the 50th anniversary of 1968, a pivotal period in national and local history. After the April 4 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., riots broke out across the District amid mounting tension and anger about racial, economic and political inequality. By April 8, large portions of the Columbia Heights, U Street NW, 7th Street NW and H Street NE corridors had been destroyed. That summer, the Poor People’s Campaign — one of King’s final initiatives in the months before his assassination — inspired activists from across the country to move to a makeshift city of tents that occupied 15 acres on the National Mall, where they created Resurrection City and rallied to demand economic justice for poor Americans. Also that year, Federal City College — now part of the University of the District of Columbia — opened its doors, and construction began on would become the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library when it opened in 1972.

In recognition of 1968’s significance, the DC Public Library organized public education programs, discussions and seminars, as well as an online exhibition about King’s involvement and influence on social and political movements in DC. The library’s Special Collections division is continuing programming for the People’s University initiative. Beginning in late March, an ongoing partnership with the Anacostia Community Museum — site of the exhibition A Right to the City, which examines “how Washingtonians have shaped and reshaped their neighborhoods in extraordinary ways” — will bring mini-exhibits on community history to five neighborhood branches: Anacostia, Southwest, Shaw, Mount Pleasant (focusing on Adams Morgan) and Woodridge (featuring an exhibit on Brookland).

On Feb. 17, Joy Kinard — the daughter of John Kinard, the Anacostia Community Museum’s founding director and the first African-American to head a Smithsonian museum — spoke about her book The Man, The Movement, The Museum at the Woodridge Neighborhood Library. Kinard discussed her father’s legacy in conversation with Samir Meghelli, who curated A Right to the City. The event included a preview of the mini-exhibit set to open March 15 on Brookland and the fight to prevent construction of the North-Central Freeway.

Library officials say they decided on the name People’s University for the programming series in order to highlight the continuing role of libraries in American society, as well as the resonance of the 1960s even today.

“The name is a nod to the educational initiative of the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign,” said library associate Maya Thompson, who introduced Driskell at the December event. “During 1968 at Resurrection City, they had the Poor People’s University and held lectures at educational institutions throughout DC.

“We offer equal access and opportunity to gain information and resources,” she said. “We want to provide people an un-intimidating space to learn and to have access to that knowledge. And that’s really the beauty of what a library is.”

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