The Role of Work at the New England Literature Program

Items

• Nuclear Family Comic
  Illustration depicting the origins of the Nuclear Family, a group of villains in the DC Comics Universe whose powers mirror the five stages of an atomic bomb blast.
• Mid-Century Modern Home
  Illustration depicting an ideallic scene of a family in front of a house
• US Savings Bond Ad
• New York Times Cartoon
• After Total War Can Come Total Living
  Illustration depicting a man and woman overlooking a suburban view with the text 'After total war can come total living"
• New York Times Cartoon
• Chair
• Side Chair
• Armchair
• Womb Chair
• BKF Chair
• Prototype for Chaise Longue (La Chaise)
• MOMA Exhibition, "What Was Good Design?"
  Installation View of "What Was Good Design?" Exhibition
• Chariot Race
  One of several activities in the Union Circus was a student-led chariot race. Two men, dressed in Roman costumes, race in chariots pulled by horses. A large crowed watches the performance from the sidelines of the Ferry Field ring.
• The Main Performance
  In this image, multiple students in the Union Circus perform for an audience. The circus ring, located in Ferry Field, is surrounded by bleachers full of people. Students dress in blackface, clown attire, and as various animals.
• The "Log"
  Inscribed "721 Lyndon", this image shows five clowns participating in the Union Circus. Beneath the image is the phrase "The 'Log'". The circus ring, located in Ferry Field, is surrounded by bleachers full of people. They watch as the clowns tumble a long-like object.
• Clowns in Action
  Inscribed "720 Lyndon", this image shows four clowns participating in the Union Circus. The circus ring, located in Ferry Field, is surrounded by bleachers full of people. They watch as the clowns run across the arena.
• Elephants at "Parade Rest"
  Taken from the Kapp scrapbook, this image is inscribed with "Lyndon. 1133" and captioned with sentence "Elephants at 'Parade Rest'". It depicts the Union Circus parade, temporarily paused next to the university campus. White students clad in blackface perform various roles as either elephant trainer or indigenous person. Their costumes depict stereotypes of native peoples and of South Asians. Circus goers watch with interest from the sidelines. The Ann Arbor trolly tracks can be seen along the grass.
• The Dragon
  The image is inscribed "THE DRAGON". As part of the Union Circus' parade, students constructed a long dragon costume to walk down State Street. The guides, both white men, wear a potentially Asian-inspired outfit and some form of blackface. Though unclear, it's probable these students are mimicking Asian men.
• Indian Braves
  Three white men, costumed as stereotypical Native Americans, wear thin gowns and feathered headdresses. Additionally, the men are covered in brown makeup to mimic some Indigenous skin tones. The photograph is inscribed "INDIAN BRAVES". It's likely these men are part of the Union Circus' "Michigamua Indians" student group. Importantly, all members of this group were white men.
• Jumbo the Elephant
  One of several blackface performances in the Union Circus, "Jumbo" the elephant and his guide drew much attention from the watching crowds. In place of real exotic animals, students dressed in animal costumes. The elephant, dubbed "Jumbo" by the inscription, required two students to act as legs. The white man guiding Jumbo wears a turban and blackface. The phrase "All Together Julia-" is inscribed under the second image in the Low scrapbook.
• The Circus Comes to Town
  Days before the Union Circus' opening event, a delivery of circus material by train was anticipated. Captured by image in the Low scrapbook, crowds wait to collect the equipment at the old Michigan Central Depot before it was decommissioned.
• General Baker Institute Library
  The General Baker Institute Library is a community library and reading space building on the legacy of Detroit labor organizer General Gordon Baker Jr.’s lifelong work. Inspired by Baker’s co-founding of Detroit and Hamtramack’s respective Revolutionary Union Movements (RUMs) movement of the late 1960s, the GBIL is focused on Black labor knowledge centering labor forward and anticapitalist works to increase political education amongst working class Black Detroiters. GBIL is a hidden gem located on Detroit’s Westside in the Pilgrim Village neighborhood.
• The Free Black Women’s Library- Detroit
  The Free Black Women’s Library Detroit is one of the five branches of TFBWL which is self-described broadly as a social art project. Detroit FBWL is a book bike, trading/borrowing library aimed and centering Black women and femme authors. In existence since 2019, this book project and community service hosts pop-up swaps/lending/readings at community events, community spaces, and Metro-Detroit small businesses, in an effort to build radical collaboration, celebrating the brilliance of Black women/femme authors and readers at no costs to the community.
• Group 8 - Brunch Thumbnail