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Charlayne Hunter-Gault

Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Usage Conditions Apply
Artist
Joseph Schwarz, 1929 - 2018
Sitter
Charlayne Hunter-Gault, born 27 Feb 1942
Date
1961
Type
Painting
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Stretcher: 147.3 × 106.7cm (58 × 42")
Frame: 149.2 × 108.6 × 3.8cm (58 3/4 × 42 3/4 × 1 1/2")
Topic
Costume\Jewelry\Necklace
Interior
Costume\Jewelry\Ring
Charlayne Hunter-Gault: Female
Charlayne Hunter-Gault: Journalism and Media\Journalist
Portrait
Place
United States\Georgia
United States\Georgia\Clarke\Athens
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Charlayne Hunter-Gault
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
Object number
NPG.2015.4
Exhibition Label
Born Due West, South Carolina
In January 1961, following a two-year legal battle, Charlayne Hunter-Gault and fellow student Hamilton Holmes walked resolutely onto the University of Georgia campus as the first African American students to enroll at the all-white public university. Within forty-eight hours of their arrival, students opposed to the pair’s admission were rioting outside Hunter-Gault’s dormitory and hurling bricks and bottles through her window. Hunter-Gault and Holmes were suspended, ostensibly to ensure their safety. They soon returned under a new court order, “determined as ever to stay the course.” Joseph Schwarz, an art professor who helped organize a faculty resolution to reinstate the suspended students, created this portrait. It captures the cool determination that enabled Hunter-Gault to challenge entrenched segregation and earn the journalism degree she fought to pursue at the University of Georgia. In 1988, twenty-five years after her graduation, Hunter-Gault became the first African American to deliver the school’s commencement address.
Nacida en Due West, Carolina del Sur
En enero de 1961, luego de dos años de batalla legal, Charlayne Hunter-Gault y su compañero Hamilton Holmes caminaron con decisión hacia el campus de la Universidad de Georgia para ser los primeros estudiantes afroamericanos en esta institución pública hasta entonces para personas blancas. No habían pasado 48 horas cuando ya los estudiantes opuestos a su admisión estaban amotinados frente al dormitorio de Hunter-Gault, lanzando ladrillos y botellas a su ventana. Hunter-Gault y Holmes fueron suspendidos, presumiblemente para garantizar su seguridad. Pronto regresaron gracias una nueva orden del tribunal, “decididos más que nunca a continuar hasta el fin”. Joseph Schwarz, profesor de arte que trabajó en una resolución de la facultad para readmitir a los estudiantes, creó este retrato. Aquí capta la firme determinación que permitió a Hunter-Gault desafiar la arraigada segregación y obtener el diploma de periodista por el cual luchó en la Universidad de Georgia. En 1988, pasados 25 años de su graduación, Hunter-Gault se convirtió en la primera afroamericana que pronunció el discurso principal en la ceremonia de graduación de la universidad.
Provenance
Charlayne Hunter-Gault and the University of Georgia, Athens
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Exhibition
The Struggle for Justice Refresh
On View
NPG, West Gallery 220