Portraits of Purpose:
A Tribute to Leadership

Boston 1980-2012

By

Don West

46 Joy Street, Beacon Hill, Boston

December 2011 through March 2012

Beverly Morgan-Welch

Ruth Batson

Colin Powell

Gail Snowden

Marita Rivero

Nelson Mandela

Don West

During the 18^th and 19^th centuries, Boston was a leader among Northern communities of color.  Black Bostonians traveled and interacted with leaders nationally and internationally.  They were entrepreneurs, educators, artists, authors, activists, elected officials, and patriots.  This tradition continues.  Leaders and citizens in Boston’s communities of color have continued to lead and form institutions that have proved critical to the fabric of this city.  Their activism, community involvement, and commitment have led to a better Boston and a better world.

A selection of these dedicated citizens is represented in Don West’s Portraits of Purpose, a collection of life-sized photographs.  Portraits of Purpose gives us an understanding of the many people of Boston and beyond who have acted their conscience… and made a difference.  Their history will not be forgotten.

Don West, noted Boston photographer, has been photographically recording the events and the people in Boston for over 35 years.  He began his career as a freelance and news photographer, making a conscious choice to capture affirmative images of people of color in all facets of community life.  In the 1980s he worked for United Press International and Boston’s black weekly paper, the Bay State Banner.  West has since gone on a host of assignments with major newspapers and magazines such as the Boston Globe, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Ebony, People and Black Enterprise.

His passion as a photographer has been to capture the unique spirit of people at work, with their families, and in struggle for what they believe.  His editorial and documentary assignments have taken him throughout the United States, Latin America, Africa, China, Europe, and the Middle East.

His proudest moments in Boston were serving as the photographer for Nelson Mandela when he first visited Boston after release from prison in South Africa (1990), and as an official photographer for Mel King’s historic “Rainbow Coalition” mayoral campaign in Boston (1983).

Immediate Past Exhibit

Treasures from the Collections
of the Museum of African American History

Treasures from the Collections is an enlightening glimpse into the collections of the Museum of African American History and fascinating early African American domestic, cultural and activist life in New England. The Museum has gathered over 3,500 items in its diverse collections. First and foremost are its historic sites including National Historic Landmarks, but there are many more objects hidden in the Museum’s storage facilities. Treasures from the Collections provides an exciting and rare opportunity to view some of the most interesting art, documents and material culture collected over more than 40 years. This exhibition presents primary source documents including an 1834 city record of funding for Boston’s “African Schoolhouse” and an 1848 bill of sale for an enslaved boy named Tom; formal photographic portraits by Hamilton Sutton Smith; works by African American women sculptors, Edmonia Lewis, Meta Warrick Fuller and Elizabeth Catlett; hand-crafted and porcelain black dolls; and marvelous art from Allan Crite’s vibrant painting of Smith Court on Beacon Hill to Henry Ossawa Tanner’s etching of a gateway in Morocco.

Featured Past Exhibit

The Life and Times of
Congressman Robert Smalls

Congressman Robert Smalls

46 Joy Street
Beacon Hill, Boston

In a courageous and well planned action during the Civil War, Robert Smalls and three other enslaved men along with their families escaped captivity. They commandeered a Confederate ship, the Planter, in Charleston Harbor! Posing as the ship's captain and crew, they passed Confederate checkpoints by giving the correct signals and sailed to the safety of the Union forces blockading Fort Sumter. Smalls went on to serve in both houses of the South Carolina Legislature and five terms in the United States Congress.

For more information, please contact

Chandra Harrington at
617-725-0022 ext. 212
Or by email at
charrington@maah.org

Featured Past Exhibit

From Iowa to the White House:

Historic Photographs of

President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama

These historic photographs shed light upon the process by which President Barack Obama achieved this nation's highest office. The exhibition not only celebrates the historic election of the first black President of the United States, it also honors the organizational prowess, business and political acumen, and cohesion and courage of the early community of black Bostonians whose efforts helped to make this achievement possible.

Read the photographer's perspective on these historic photographs.

For more information,
please contact

Chandra Harrington at
617-725-0022 ext. 212
Or by email at
charrington@maah.org

See Profiles in Color interview with

Derrick Z. Jackson

View Program @

Featured Past Exhibit

The Smithsonian in Boston.

Sarah Vaughan

Josef Breitenbach(1896-1984)
1950 National Portrait Gallery
Smithsonian Institution

For the first time ever, the Smithsonian Institution comes to the Museum of African American History. Stay tuned for this powerful traveling exhibit of portraits featuring 69
images of African American leaders over 150 years.

The theme was inspired by the words of Henry Highland Garnet, abolitionist, editor and clergyman. In 1843, Garnet addressed the National Convention of Colored Citizens.

“…Rather die freemen than live to be slaves…Let your motto be Resistance!
Resistance! RESISTANCE”…What kind of resistance you…make you must decide by the circumstances that surround you…”

Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits, organized by the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the National Portrait Gallery, in collaboration with the International Center of Photography and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

The exhibition, national tour, and catalogue were made possible by a generous grant from our lead sponsor, MetLife Foundation. Additional support was provided by The Council of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Exhibition Credits