A student inspired by a unique Rochester Institute of Technology course is connecting the work of a celebrated alumnus with her own family history.
Bernie Boston's work, which Athena Lemon was able to interact with thanks to the RIT Archive, motivated Lemon to look into her family history and create her own archive, which is now on display at RIT's University Gallery.
Rochester, N.Y. — A student inspired by a unique Rochester Institute of Technology course is connecting the work of a celebrated alumnus with her own family history, opening a one-of-a-kind exhibit on the campus."It's almost a form of a protest in my opinion, because it lets people know they're not alone, that their history is important and that they're important," said Lemon. It's an inspiring message from the RIT student who created a unique exhibit after taking a specific course. "A lot of times as African Americans, we feel like we're alone in a lot of spaces," said RIT professorclass introduced Lemon to the work of Bernie Boston, a Black RIT graduate who went on to become a celebrated, Pulitzer Prize nominated photojournalist. He is best known for his groundbreaking civil rights and antiwar coverage. "I hadn't known about him before professor McFadden's class, but I can tell you I won't ever forget him," said Lemon. "His work is everywhere. He's documented so many important parts of our history." "If we know the history of Frederick Douglass and also how he understood the importance of photography, I had no doubt there would be something just as important here on campus such, as Bernie Boston's work," explained McFadden. "To be able to have students come in here and see themselves reflected in the collections, and to build off their own stories and narratives...is everything," said RIT University Archivist Elizabeth Call. Boston's archive motivated Lemon to look into her family history and create her own archive, as Lemon said, "to use my family as an example of Black life for these big events that Bernie Boston documented." "It really sets the scene of what Philadelphia was like for a lot of citizens there," explained Lemon."Even in the midst of the trauma, the Black community has been through throughout the years, we also have the family archive that exhibits Black joy," McFadden explained. "And the fact that we never lost that joy, and there's nothing that can steal that joy from us." Lemon also describes her exhibit as a love letter to her grandparents, especially her grandmother, whom she lost to dementia in 2017. "Looking back at these photos kind of felt like another way to bring her back to life and to have her walk through this exhibition with me," Lemon explained. "They made it such a precedent to be proud of our accomplishments, to not fully succumb to the ideology of 'Black excellence,' to be good for you, to be good for the community. And that's really what drove this exhibition for me." Reframing History Through Lens and Legacy: A visual dialogue between Bernie Boston and the Ramsey-Lemon Archive Lemon and professor McFadden are also holding a discussion about this work at RIT on Feb. 28 from 5 to 7 p.m.
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