Black DIY Tradition
Chuck Harrison designed 8-12 sewing machines every year for 12 years.
black history month
A Life’s Design: The Untold Story of the Black Man who Designed the Objects of the American Dream
Many may be surprised to learn that during decades when America wrestled with its identity in the streets, an African American sat with a pencil and gave shape to the American Dream object by object. Much of what we know treasure as middle-class American icons, the objects that turned a house into a home, were …
Beyond Madame CJ: Black Presence in the Beauty Salon
Beauty salon chair designed for Belvidere Beauty Products (1957)
Segregated vs Sustainable
Segregated or Sustainable? In his book, A Life’s Design, world-renown African-American industrial designer Charles Harrison starts with his story of life in rural Louisiana and Texas under Jim Crow. “At Prairie View,” he says, “we were all African Americans, so there was no segregation. We saw white people only when they came to the hospital …