{"id":54465,"date":"2026-11-10T09:16:41","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T14:16:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/?p=54465"},"modified":"2026-11-10T09:16:43","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T14:16:43","slug":"snapshot-of-the-melvin-grier-papers-at-archives-and-rare-books-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/2026\/11\/snapshot-of-the-melvin-grier-papers-at-archives-and-rare-books-library\/","title":{"rendered":"Snapshot of the Melvin Grier papers at Archives and Rare Books Library"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Renowned local photographer and photojournalist Melvin Grier began donating his papers and photographs to the Archives and Rare Books Library earlier this year and we are excited to announce that an initial online finding aid has been published for the Melvin Grier papers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Materials received thus far include photographic negatives, newspaper articles, reporter’s notebooks, correspondence, and large format photographic prints documenting Melvin Grier’s career as a photojournalist from 1982 to 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"Exhibit
Exhibit poster for Grier’s 2004 exhibit “15retro\/15active” at the Taft Museum of Art. From the Melvin Grier papers, US-26-02, Archives and Rare Books Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Much of the collection consists of photographic negatives taken by Grier while a photographer with The Cincinnati Post<\/em>, a position he held from 1974 to 2007. His negatives depict an array of topics such as local, college, and national sporting events; crime; weather events; local politics; holidays; festivals; local businesses; concerts; average citizens; health-related events; and daily living features. Organized by date, his negatives give researchers a glimpse of what his daily work entailed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grier’s photographic prints were showcased in “Souls in Bondage: Essays of East Africa” held at the Arts Consortium in 1994 and “Homage to a Sound” held at Kennedy Heights Arts Center in 2016. These were just two exhibits that have featured Grier’s work. Other photographic prints on social justice issues and fashion were created for photograph contests Grier entered. Other exhibits include “15retro\/15active” held at the Taft Museum of Art in recognition of being the Duncanson Artist-in-Residence at the museum in 2004 and “Joyful Noise” at the Cathedral Basilica Galley in 2003.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collection houses original editions of The Cincinnati Post<\/em> that contain some of Grier\u2019s photographs, and Cincinnati magazines and newspapers that document his exhibits and work.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Front
One of Melvin Grier’s reporter’s notebooks, undated. From the Melvin Grier papers, US-26-02, Archives and Rare Books Library<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

More about Melvin Grier<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Melvin Grier was born on November 7, 1941, in Cincinnati’s West End neighborhood. He attended various Catholic schools during his youth. This included Holy Trinity Catholic School until it was demolished in 1958 and Sacred Heart Seminary in Anderson. While in high school, his neighborhood in the West End was demolished as part of Cincinnati\u2019s urban renewal program and he finished his education at DePorres School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1960 he joined the United States Air Force and was sent overseas to the Royal Air Force Station Mildenhall where he assisted in delivering babies for two years. In England he began learning more about photography and won a Stars and Stripes photography contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grier completed his military service in 1965 and returned to Cincinnati. He had an interest in fashion photography and found a temporary job with Austin Bewsey Studios for the season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photography jobs were difficult to come by, and he began working with Young and Klein Lithographers in Northside as a laborer. In his spare time, he taught photography classes and met his future wife, Brenda Turner, in one of his classes. They were married shortly after in 1969 and once they were settled, Grier quit his job to focus on photography. His street photography brought him various photography gigs. At this time, he also volunteered his time and skills with The Independent Eye<\/em>, an underground newspaper that focused on social justice issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1974, he learned about a photographer opening with The Cincinnati Post<\/em>. He applied and was offered the job in December of 1974. He was the first African American photographer with the newspaper. During his 33 years with the newspaper, he traveled across the country and internationally to capture images of political happenings, sporting events, wars, crime, and daily life. He retired in 2007 when The Cincinnati Post<\/em> ceased production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Stamp
Stamp with Melvin Grier’s name for his photographs at The Cincinnati Post<\/em>, undated, From the Melvin Grier papers, US-26-02, Archives and Rare Books Library.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Grier continued his photography and volunteered with Cincinnati Parks and FotoFocus. His awards and achievements include serving as Board Trustee of the Cincinnati Memorial Hall, Ohio Photographer of the Year in 1999 by the Society of Professional Journalists, induction into the Greater Cincinnati Journalism Hall of Fame in 2003, selection as Taft Museum of Art Duncanson Artist-in-Residence in 2004, and induction into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His memoir It Was Always About the Work<\/em> was published in 2023 and documents his life and career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grier is currently working on “Unfinished Lives,” a multi-media project which centers on violence survivors. The Archives and Rare Books Library continues to work with Mr. Grier to preserve his papers and photographs and additions will be made to the collection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Renowned local photographer and photojournalist Melvin Grier began donating his papers and photographs to the Archives and Rare Books Library earlier this year and we are excited to announce that an initial online finding aid has been published for the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,31,13],"tags":[2512,2358,3290,3293,2360,3291,3292,36],"class_list":["post-54465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arb","category-uc","category-uclibraries","tag-arb","tag-archives-and-rare-books","tag-new-in-arb","tag-newspapers","tag-photography","tag-photojournalism","tag-the-cincinnati-post","tag-uc-libraries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54469,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54465\/revisions\/54469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}