January 30, 2010 – April 25, 2010

“Let your motto be resistance! Resistance! RESISTANCE!
No oppressed people have ever secured their liberty without resistance.”
– Abolitionist Henry Highland Garnet, 1843

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, almost all black Americans embraced Garnet’s plea to “let your motto be resistance,” based on “the circumstances that surround you.” The words of this nineteenth century political activist and Underground Railroad conductor are the essence of the exhibition, Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits. Let Your Motto Be Resistance is the first of four exhibitions being presented as part of the Atlanta History Center’s Civil War to Civil Rights exhibition series.

Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits features 69 stunning photographic portraits that trace 150 years of U.S. history through the lives of well-known African Americans, including abolitionists, artists, scientists, authors, statesmen, entertainers, and sports figures. These revealing photographs illuminate the creative and courageous ways that African Americans redefined the history of the United States through struggle, accommodation, and resistance.  The portraits allow us to rethink our ideas of resistance and to remember the rich diversity of African American life in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  Drawing on the collection of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, images of Frederick Douglass and Malcolm X; Edward Bannister and Toni Morrison; and Father Divine and Jimi Hendrix celebrate the ways in which photographs furthered recognition and equality in America during periods of challenge and defiance.

Let Your Motto Be Resistance was organized by the National Museum of African American History and Culture in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery and the International Center of Photography in New York and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The exhibition, national tour and accompanying catalog were made possible by a generous grant from MetLife Foundation. Additional support was provided by the council of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The exhibition is presented locally by the Scott Hudgens Family Foundation, Georgia Power, and Macy’s. Additional support provided by the Atlanta Foundation, the John K. Ottley, Jr. Family, and the Lubo Fund.  

RELATED LINKS AND INFORMATION

Civil War to Civil Rights

The Big Read
 

Let Your Motto Be Resistance: Opening Day Celebration
Saturday, January 30, 2010
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM

In celebration of the opening of Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits, some of the influential African Americans featured in the exhibition will be brought to life through living history performances designed to share the subject’s stories of personal struggle and triumph. Other family friendly activities include hands-on crafts that explore the artists, musicians, and writers of the Harlem Renaissance, a tap dance clinic, and an engaging family guide. This program is included in the price of Atlanta History Center general admission. For more information, please call 404.814.4000.

Special Members-Only Hours

January 30, 2010
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

February 13, 2010
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM

For more information about members-only events, please contact us at 404.814.4101.  

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