New Photographs of Local History
The Library is happy to announce the addition of two stunning new photographs to our permanent art collection, due to a generous donation from the Friends of the Deerfield Library. Join us on Monday, January 21, 5-6:30 p.m., for a reception and unveiling event celebrating these unique photos by world-renowned photographer, and longtime Deerfield resident, Art Shay. No registration is required.
Speakers at this Martin Luther King Jr. Day event will illuminate the stories behind the photographs of local history and celebrate Shay’s legacy. This is the first event in our new program series, The Fight to Integrate Deerfield: 60 Year Reflection, which reflects on the history of Deerfield’s 1959 crisis over a planned integrated housing development. Learn more on our website.
Additional Shay photographs of this history will be on display from the Art Shay Archives, as well as some of our original documents related to this history. Staff members will be acting as docents around the library during the event, so stop by for this special evening of art and local history.
Art Shay
Art Shay (1922-2018) was a renowned photographer, working for publications like Life, Time and Sports Illustrated to photograph some of the most notable people of the 20th century. Shay was also a longtime Deerfield resident. Starting in 1959, he turned his lens on the news at home, documenting the years of protests, community meetings, and speeches in the fight to integrate Deerfield. These photographs constitute a documentary and artistic record of the crisis from an insider; Shay and his wife Florence were members of the Deerfield Citizens for Human Rights, a group that supported integration.
Art Shay’s photographs are in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Portrait Gallery, among other institutions.
