Join us in collaboration with Johnson C. Smith + Park and Rec + Cedar Grove for a free drip coffee from 1-3pm as we deep dive into the James G. Peeler collection.

Photographer James Gibson Peeler (1929-2004) spent nearly half a century documenting the African American experience in Charlotte. A native Charlottean who attended Biddleville Elementary School and West Charlotte High School, Peeler graduated from Johnson C. Smith University in 1951 and, following a stint at the New York Institute of Photography on a GI bill, he returned to Charlotte in 1954 to establish his first portrait studio on Beatties Ford Road.

Peeler’s work as a photographer included still-life, catalog images, insurance claim documentation, and studio portrait work built around a solid and loyal client base. He also photographed a wide variety of black-owned businesses from barbers and beauty shops to nightclubs and restaurants, and captured the African American community in their homes, schools, churches, and social gatherings. He also captured local civil rights leaders like Kelly and Fred Alexander and Reginald Hawkins, and photographed visits to the city by Martin Luther King, Thurgood Marshall, and others (via JCSU)