Lafayette Tolliver: Visual Footprints in Time

In honor of Black History Month, Kent State University Libraries is celebrating the Lafayette Tolliver Collection with an event and a complementary exhibit, Lafayette Tolliver: Visual Footprints in Time, that will highlight selections from the expansive collection. Tolliver will be the featured guest at the event. The exhibit will be displayed in the Marovitz Gallery, located on the first floor of University Library.

As a Kent State photojournalism student and Black movement activist, Tolliver, ’71, served as a photographer and columnist for the Chestnut Burr and Daily Kent Stater publications, in addition to contributing to Black Watch. He documented students of color through his stunning photography while enrolled at Kent State from 1967-71. As a member of Black United Students (BUS), he was often involved in programming which gave him a unique vantage point to capture candid photos of activities and gatherings that engaged students of color. The resulting collection boasts more than 1,000 remarkable photographs, many of which were never published or made accessible to the public.

In 2014, Tolliver generously donated his photographs to Kent State’s Special Collections and Archives. The Tolliver photographs have been fully digitized and are available online. The Lafayette Tolliver: Visual Footprints in Time exhibit will be on display from early February through summer 2023. Visitors are welcome to view the exhibit during University Library’s open hours.