North Columbus News

In Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, a limestone mine 220 feet underground houses the Bettmann Archive, containing 11 million photographs and film negatives. The collection includes images of Albert Einstein, the Hindenburg explosion, and the Apollo 11 moon landing. Getty Images acquired this collection in 2016.

The archive's location is ideal for preservation due to its controlled temperature and humidity, along with tight security measures. Visitors undergo searches before entering the facility.

A new book project titled "Picturing Black History" utilizes images from the Bettmann Archive to share untold stories of Black history. Nicholas Breyfogle, a history professor at The Ohio State University and one of the book's editors, emphasized the project's visual storytelling power. "We were able to embrace the power of images to really be able to capture stories from Black history," he said.

Steven Conn, a history professor at Miami University, joins Breyfogle as an editor. Both professors also edit Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspectives. Following civil unrest in 2020, Getty Images collaborated with Ohio State and Miami University to explore racial injustice through historical images. This partnership resulted in both a book and a website dedicated to Picturing Black History.

Ohio State doctoral students Daniela Edmeier and Damarius Johnson also served as editors on this project. Edmeier expressed gratitude for such an opportunity during her graduate studies: “I feel like the chance to work on something like this, as a graduate student, is unheard of.”

Johnson highlighted the importance of their contributions being valued: “Graduate students having this much input is awesome."

Both students found visiting the Bettmann Archive an extraordinary experience. Edmeier described entering the secure mine as going "literally into a hollowed-out mountain." Johnson noted that access to thousands of images on-site facilitated critical discussions about their inclusion in the book.

Breyfogle pointed out that graduate students gained valuable career skills through their involvement in this project. “These are a set of skills that are essential as one goes off into the job market,” he said.

Proceeds from sales will fund further opportunities for research and education in Black history projects. “We’ve designed it to be self-sustaining,” Breyfogle added.