Wendel A. White | Schools for the Colored

Wendel A. White | Schools for the Colored

Wendel A. White's photographic project, Schools for the Colored, delves into the legacy of racial segregation in America’s educational system. The series is an extension of White's earlier work, Small Towns, Black Lives, and continues his exploration of the African American landscape. Through his lens, White captures the architectural remnants of segregated schools that are scattered across the Northern “free” states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. These schoolhouses, located on the boundary between the North and the South, represent an unresolved past for White and remain “one of the enduring spaces for the definition of race and class identity in the American landscape.”

White's photographs move beyond mere representations of historical buildings; they are poignant narratives that continue to resonate in the present. Drawing inspiration from W.E.B. Du Bois' description of being “shut out from their world by a vast veil” as an African American, White employs a digital imaging technique that obscures the landscape surrounding the schools, symbolizing a “veil” of racial segregation. In instances where the schoolhouses no longer exist, White inserts silhouettes, either representing the original structures, or interpreting what they may have looked like. His silhouettes serve as ghostly memorials, reminding viewers of a past that still haunts the American psyche.

In Schools for the Colored, White documents the remnants of segregated schools and challenges viewers to confront the legacies of racial segregation. His photographs serve as a testament to the resilience of the African American community and are a reminder of the barriers that have been overcome and of those that still exist. Over seven decades since the landmark ruling of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), White's work prompts us to reflect on the monumental journey that still lies ahead.

Watch a 4-minute video in which Wendel A. White describes the project and his working process, courtesy of State of the Arts, NJ

Wendel A. White (b. 1956) is a New Jersey-based artist and educator. He holds a BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin. Over the years, White has been recognized for his significant contributions to the field, receiving accolades including an honorary Doctor of Arts (h.c.) from Oakland University; the Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography from the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University; a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Photography; and three artist fellowships from the New Jersey State Council for the Arts. His works have been featured in numerous exhibitions and are represented in museum and corporate collections including the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.); the Museum of Fine Arts (Houston); the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago); and the NYPL Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture (New York), among others. White’s most recent monograph, Manifest | Thirteen Colonies, was published by Radius Books and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University in 2024. 

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[image]
Marshalltown School  2007
Mannington, New Jersey
Wendel A. White (b. 1956)
pigment inkjet print on paper
Courtesy of the artist
R2024.1301.011

[video credit]
“Wendel A. White: Schools for the Colored”  2022
State of the Arts, Season 40 Episode 6 
Producer: Aubrey J. Kauffman
Director of Photography: Joe Conlon
Series Producers: Eric G. Schultz and Susan Wallner
Courtesy of State of the Arts is a co-production of the New Jersey. State Council on the Arts and Stockton University, in cooperation with PCK Media.

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