Rhetoric Society Quarterly Mar 2020

A View from the Hill: “One Shot” Harris and the Pittsburgh Courier

Emily N. Smith

Abstract

Charles "Teenie" Harris spent more than three decades as a staff photographer for the Pittsburgh Courier, capturing through his camera lens both once-in-a-lifetime and everyday occurrences in the city. The Courier played an active role in the lives of many African Americans in Pittsburgh, promoting local and national news, sports, and entertainment that represented their communities. Using a selection of Harris's photos, this essay begins by identifying the self-evidently political images in his oeuvre. It then theorizes what I refer to as idiomatic visual rhetorical strategies of representation that manifest in less obvious places: images of women and children whose celebrations and struggles were not likely to be publicized outside their own neighborhoods. Through the introduction of idiomatic representational strategies, this essay contributes to efforts in visual rhetorics to refine methodologies for interpreting images, and it also furthers historiographies of African American rhetorics.

Journal
Rhetoric Society Quarterly
Published
2020-03-14
DOI
10.1080/02773945.2020.1725614
CompPile
Open Access
Closed
Topics
rhetorical criticism african american rhetorics multimodality race and writing gender and writing
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (57) · 1 in this index

  1. Associated Press. “Black Muslim Kills Wife Two Children.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 11 Sept. 1963 p. 4 ProQ…
  2. Banks Adam J. Race Rhetoric and Technology: Searching for a Higher Ground. Laurence Erlbaum Associates Inc. P…
  3. Benson Thomas W. (2008)
    Visual Rhetoric: A Reader in Communication and American Culture
  4. 10.14321/crnewcentrevi.18.1.0105
     ↗
  5. “Bigots Scare Woman 75 from Peaceful Fishing.” Pittsburgh Courier (1955–1966) 25 Jul. 1964 p. 1 ProQuest Hist…
Show all 57 →
  1. “Biography.” Teenie Harris Archive. Carnegie Museum of Art <http://teenie.cmoa.org/About. aspx>. Accessed 23 …
  2. Blair Carole (2008)
    Visual Rhetoric: A Reader in Communication and American Culture
  3. Buni Andrew. (1974)
    Robert L. Vann of the Pittsburgh Courier: Politics and Black Journalism
  4. 10.1215/9780822373582
     ↗
  5. Carosi Paul. “Mary Dee Dudley.” Pittsburgh Music History 22 Jan 2014 https://sites.google.com/site/pittsburgh…
  6. Chappell Bill. “People Wonder: ‘If They Gunned Me Down ’ What Photo Would Media Use?” The Two-Way 11 Aug. 201…
  7. 10.18574/nyu/9781479890415.001.0001
     ↗
  8. Courier Editor (2018)
    The New Pittsburgh Courier
  9. 10.1215/9780822375371
     ↗
  10. Dawson Michael C. (1995)
    The Black Public Sphere, edited by the Black Public Sphere Collective, U of Chicago P
  11. Duganne Erina. (2010)
    The Self in Black and White: Race and Subjectivity in Postwar American Photography
  12. Finley Cheryl (2011)
    Teenie Harris, Photographer: Image, Memory, History
  13. 10.1080/00028533.2001.11951665
     ↗
  14. Finnegan Cara A. (2004)
    Defining Visual Rhetorics
  15. 10.1353/rap.2006.0023
     ↗
  16. 10.5406/illinois/9780252039263.001.0001
     ↗
  17. Fleetwood Nicole R. (2011)
    Troubling Vision: Performance, Visuality, and Blackness
  18. Foss Sonja K. (1993)
    Rhetorical Movement: Essays in Honor of Leland M. Griffin
  19. Franklin V.P. “In Memoriam: Edna Beatrice Chappell McKenzie Ph.D.” The Journal of African American History vo…
     ↗
  20. 10.2307/466240
     ↗
  21. 10.4324/9781315108636
     ↗
  22. Govenar Alan. (1996)
    Portraits of Community: African American Photography in Texas
  23. 10.1017/S0963926815000899
     ↗
  24. Hariman Robert (2007)
    No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy
  25. Harris Charles. “Crowd Including Greta Richardson Fourth from Right Holding Signs Inscribed ‘Andy Jackson Nee…
  26. Harris Charles “Small Crowd Possibly Including Mae Webb Wearing Jeans and Peasant Blouse near Center Gathered…
  27. Harris Charles “Protesters Including Rev. Bill Powell James McCoy Mal Goode Byrd Brown Possibly Jim Scott and…
  28. Harris Charles “Men from Local Union 178 Protesting Labor Policy outside United Steelworkers Headquarters Com…
  29. Harris Charles “Mary Reid Holding Threatening Notes with Swastikas and American Nazi Party Propaganda.” Carne…
  30. Harris Charles Teenie “Children Wearing Halloween Costumes at Bedford Dwellings.” Carnegie Museum of Art 31 O…
  31. “Hill Kiddies Enjoy Halloween Party.” The Pittsburgh Courier (1911–1950) 8 Nov. 1941 p. 22. Proquest Historic…
  32. Holt Thomas C (1995)
    The Black Public Sphere, edited by the Black
  33. hooks bell. (1994)
    Picturing Us: African American Identity in Photography
  34. 10.1353/rap.2007.0023
     ↗
  35. 10.1080/00335630.2015.1136074
     ↗
  36. LaWare Margaret R. (1998)
    Encountering Visions of Aztlán: Arguments for Ethnic Pride, Community Activism and Cultur…
    Argumentation and Advocacy
  37. Love Kenneth (2003)
    One Shot: The Life and Work of Teenie Harris
  38. Mellon Steve (2018)
    Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  39. Nelson Stanley (2015)
    The Black Press: Soldiers Without Swords
  40. Olson Lester C. “Intellectual and Conceptual Resources for Visual Rhetoric: A Re-Examination of Scholarship S…
     ↗
  41. “Picket Steelworkers’ Union.” Pittsburgh Courier (1955–1966) 21 Sep. 1963 p. 5 ProQuest Historical Newspapers…
  42. Polk Alma A. “Angry Neighbors Block Street; Seek Protection from Speeding Drivers ” The Pittsburgh Courier (1…
  43. Pough Gwendolyn. (2004)
    Check It while I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere
  44. Rawson (2018)
    The Rhetorical Power of Archival Description: Classifying Images of Gender Tran…
    Rhetoric Society Quarterly
  45. 10.1215/9780822376781
     ↗
  46. 10.1080/13688790.2017.1334283
     ↗
  47. 10.1215/9780822385783
     ↗
  48. “Teenie Harris Archivist Appointed.” Carnegie Museum of Art 12 May 2016. https://press.cmoa.org/2016/05/12/te…
  49. Thomas Dexter. “Why Everyone’s Saying ‘Black Girls are Magic.” Los Angeles Times 9 Sep. 2015. http://www.lati…
  50. Wallace Maurice O. and Shawn Michelle Smith editors. Pictures and Progress: Early Photography and the Making …
     ↗
  51. “WHOD Opens Studio Dee: Mary Dee Program Has 150 000 Listeners Daily.” The Pittsburgh Courier (1950–1954) 4 A…
  52. 10.1080/00335630.2013.833668
     ↗
CrossRef global citation count: 0 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Pedagogy Apr 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism african american rhetorics cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy basic writing graduate education two-year college teacher development writing centers technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions digital rhetoric multimodality social media literacy studies race and writing gender and writing community literacy literary studies editorial matter
  2. Pedagogy Oct 2025
    Contributors ↗
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism genre theory cultural rhetorics first-year composition writing pedagogy advanced composition creative writing writing across the curriculum graduate education two-year college service learning teacher development technical communication professional writing labor and working conditions archival research multimodality artificial intelligence literacy studies race and writing gender and writing disability studies literary studies editorial matter
  3. Pedagogy Apr 2025
    ALL BLACK EVERYTHING ↗
    Chloe Leavings; Carly Braxton; Jessica Ridgeway
    rhetorical criticism genre theory first-year composition writing pedagogy teacher development multimodality race and writing gender and writing
  4. Pedagogy Apr 2024
    To Reimagine . . . To Start Again ↗
    Zachary C. Beare; Jessica Masterson; Shari J. Stenberg
    rhetorical criticism first-year composition writing pedagogy graduate education teacher development argument assessment writing program administration professional writing labor and working conditions multimodality race and writing gender and writing affect and writing editorial matter
  5. Philosophy & Rhetoric Dec 2023
    Figures of Entanglement: Diffractive Readings of Barad, New Materialism, and Rhetorical Theory and Criticism ↗
    Savannah Greer Downing
    modern rhetorical theory rhetorical criticism discourse analysis decolonial rhetorics argument multimodality race and writing gender and writing book reviews editorial matter