Harmon Foundation

In 1922 William Harmon, a white real estate mogul from Ohio, started the Harmon foundation which, among other things, supported Black artists. His hope for the foundation was that it would help these artists gain recognition and help them to sell their work, regardless of their skin color. The foundation organized exhibitions and awards for Black artists, all with the explicit intent to stimulate their success. Despite its good intentions, the foundation met with criticism from the Black community. The work the foundation did was seen as patriarchal and fulfilling a “white savior” complex rather than effecting real change and achieving equity. While it can be argued that the Harmon Foundation did a lot to support Black artists, one of the main criticisms is its role in maintaining the segregation of Black artists. Harmon Foundation exhibits featured Black artists alongside other Black artists, instead of integrating with white artists. The foundation's awards were also juried by white judges who selected winners based on a white ideal of excellence rather than understanding the work and its value or role in Black culture. While the Harmon Foundation’s efforts weren’t always welcome, it still spent 45 years promoting Black artists, helping them gain well-deserved attention and recognition.

1862 – b Ohio, William E. Harmon
1887 – Founds Harmon National Real Estate Company
1922 – Harmon Foundation is founded
1925 – Harmon Foundation begins issuing cash awards for distinguished achievement in a number of fields, including fine arts
1925 – Harmon Foundation supports the Religious Motion Picture foundation
1928 – William Harmon dies
1928-33 – Harmon Foundation recognized as first to give national recognition to achievements of African Americans
1933-36 – Harmon Foundation supports films: “The Negro and Art” and “We Are All Artists”
1935 – Artist Romare Beardon accused the foundation of “coddling artists and lowering artistic standards”
1935 – The Harlem Artists Guild founded, to support artists and to pressure the Federal Arts Project to accept more African-American participants
1935 – Harmon National Real Estate Company becomes one of the largest real estate companies in the world
1936 – Harmon Foundation sponsors films: “What Africa Is”, “How Africa Lives”, and “From Fetishes to Faith”.
1938-41 – Harmon Foundation supports film series: “The African Motion Picture Project”
1969 – ‘Harlem on My Mind, 1900-1968’ exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, opens to criticism for absence of Black curators or consulting the Harlem community
1967 – Harmon Foundation ceases operations

Baum, K., Robles, M., & Yount, S. (2021, February 17). “Harlem on Whose Mind?”: The Met and Civil Rights. The Met. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/now-at-the-met/2021/harlem-on-my-mind

Brown, A. C., III. (2015, January 20). James A. Porter: The Father of African American Art History. The Baltimore Renaissance. Retrieved June 23, 2022, from https://thelyfe.wordpress.com/2015/01/20/james-a-porter-the-father-of-african-american-art-history/#:%7E:text=Porter%3A%20The%20Father%20of%20African%20American%20Art%20History,-Professor%20James%20A&text=James%20Amos%20Porter%20was%20born,of%20Science%20degree%20in%20art.

Harmon Foundation, I. Harmon Foundation, inc., records. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78051615.

Malan, N. E. (1973). Photographs in the Harmon Foundation Collection. African Arts, 6(2), 33–32. https://doi.org/10.2307/3334777

Williams, G. (2013, February 22). African American art and the Harmon Foundation. Smithsonian Libraries / Unbound. https://blog.library.si.edu/blog/2013/02/22/african-american-art-and-the-harmon-foundation/#.YfQ3AljMJ4G