Moneta J Sleet Jr (1926 - 1996)

Born 14 Feb 1926 in Owensboro, Daviess, Kentucky, United States

Ancestors

Died 30 Sep 1996 at age 70 in Baldwin, Hempstead, Nassau, New York, United States

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Biography

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Moneta Sleet Jr is Notable.

Moneta Sleet Jr was born in Kentucky.

Moneta J Sleet, Jr. was the first African-American man to win a Pulitzer Prize. In 1969, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for his photos of Coretta Scott King at her husband's funeral. ^[1]

Birth and Youth

Mineta Sleet child of Ozetta Allensworth, was born on 14 February 1926 in Kentucky, United States.^[2]

1930 Census In the 1930 census Moneta (age 4) was the son of Moneta J Sleet in Owensboro, Daviess, Kentucky, United States His parents were first married at at 20 Moneta and 23, Ozetta. Both had parents born in Kentucky..^[3]

1940 Census In the 1940 census Moneta (age 14) was the son of Moneta J Sleet living at 714 W 7th Street, in Owensboro, Magisterial District 1, Daviess, Kentucky, United States.^[4]

His interest in photography was sparked by a gift from his parents of a box camera. He was editor of the school newspaper at Western High School, which at the time was a segregated high school.

Kentucky State College

Kentucky State College He started college in 1942 at Kentucky State College, an historically black college, now named Kentucky State University. His college education was interrupted by military service in WWII. He graduated cum laude in 1947. ^[5] While at Kentucky State College he was mentored by John T. Williams, a college dean and owner of a photography studio, where he gave Sleet a job as an assistant photographer.

WW II Enlistment

Moneta J Sleet, single, without dependents enlisted for the duration of the War or other emergency, plus six months, etc.…, on 21 Sep 1944 in Louisville, KY. Born 1926 in KY, with 2 years of college, rank Private. He served in Burma and the Pacific in an all black unit. ^[6] Sleet served in an all-African American unit in World War II.

Masters Degree NYU

After graduating from KYC 1947, he follow Williams to Maryland State College, where he taught photography for a year. ^[7] He then went on to obtain a master's degree in journalism from New York University (NYU) in 1950. He also studied at the School of Modern Photography where he furthered his photography skills.

Career in Photography

After his education at NYU he was a sport’s journalist for the Amsterdam News in New York and then John P. Davis' magazine Our World.

When Our World folded in 1955 he began a four decade career as a staff photographer for Johnson Publishing, publishers of the magazines Ebony and Jet. His work put him at the center of black history, as seen through his eyes, the eys of a black man. He is credited with an easy going and patient nature, which gained. him access to the private lives of African Americans.

He participated in the Civil Rights Movement, photographing Martin Luther King Jr, at home with his family (1956,) with Rosa Parks (1956,) traveling to receive the Nobel Prize (1964,) marching on Selma (1965.) and finally at his funeral, where he took the photograph that earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1969. He initially was not included on the press list for the funeral. However Corretta Scott King told the press, that unless Monetta Sleet was allowed entry and given his choice of vantage point, that there would be no press at the funeral.

His photography of King's daughter Beatrice, mournfully staring into space, resting on her mother Coretta's lap, conveyed deep sorrow. The Associated Press picked up the photo and it saw nation wide distribution. Sleet's Pulitzer Prize in photojournalism was the first won by an African American. Magazine photographers were not usually eligible le for the prize, but because the AP had picked up the photo, he was eligible for the prize.

He photographed many celebrities. In addition to the Kings, he created portraiture that revealed more private moments, character, spirit, humanity and vulnerabliity. Some of his subjects were Rosa Parks, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Malcom X, the grieving Betty Shabazz, Billy Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Dionne Warwick, Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones), Haile Selassie and dancer Carmen de Lavallade and her son Leo.

He also photographed ordinary black people displaying extraordinary spirit, the marchers on the Selma Marches, street photography in Ghana, Monrovia. the Soviet Union, Liberia and Senegal. Wherever he went he enjoyed taking photographs of children, and he created a series of photographs of African American and African children, called "Take My Picture Mister,"

His favorite photograph was of one of the Selma Marchers, a woman, in a raincoat, face turned up to the sky, with hands in prayerful gestures.

Museum Collections

The Owensboro Museum of Art started planning a retrospective of Moneta Sleet's photography with Mr Sleet. The exhibition of 126 photographs was organized by the Schomburg center of the New York public library and presented in 1977, a year after Mr Sleet died, Mrs. Juanita Sleet helped the museum acquire two photographs for it's permanent collection. One taken in 1953, THE LITTLE GIRL. It depicts a young girl standing in an alley in Blue Heaven, West Virginia in 1953. ^[8]

The Saint Louis Museum of Art has a collection of 102 of his photographs. ^[9]

During his life he exhibited at NY Public Library The Vision of Moneta Sleet in Show 1986; the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the City Art Museum in St. Louis (now SLAM); Detroit Public Library; and the Studio Museum in Harlem.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (Smithsonian) in 2019 through a non-profit consortium that included the J Paul Getty Trust acquired the entire collection of the Johnson Publishing Company, consisting of "3.35 million negatives and slides, 983,000 photographic prints, 166,000 contact sheets, and 9,000 audio and visual recordings," among them the photographs of Sleet during his forty years with the company. The two institutions are working to catalogue, conserve and digitize the collection and ultimately make a publically searchable and downloadable database, as well as exhibit the works. ^[10]

The NMAAHC Smithsonian statement on the collection states the significance of black photographers of black life: ^[11]

Who would one allow in the room as subjects sing the praises of their souls? Who would one trust to witness such vulnerability? If lives could be sung, these photographs capture the beauty of the song while reminding us of the solace of kin and the importance of sovereignty over one’s self. Sidney Poitier playfully raising his daughter to the ceiling during a moment of pure joy. Maya Angelou writing in bed, with books lying in idle orbit. Things too often denied the descendants of the enslaved flush with introspection amidst acts of self-care and solemnity. Here the intimate lives of public figures are braided with an everydayness synonymous with our own striving, sorrow, joy, and peace, all enveloped by cultural trust. There are rooms we will never see here and spaces, if only in their minds, they will never lay bare for public consumption. What remains is a legacy of respect for the sanctity of black life.

According to a BBC interview with his son, Gregory Sleet, his father's work was centered on authentically representing the point of view of himself as an African American man, photographing African Americans and Africans. He often took a great deal of time with his portraiture subjects, allowing space and time for intimacy in the portraits which reveal respectful and authentic glimpses into private lives of public figures. ^[12]

After his death, Johnson Publishing published a retrospective book in 1998, "Special Moments in African-American History, 1955-1996: The Photographs of Moneta Sleet, Jr., Ebony Magazine's Pulitzer Prize Winner. ^[13]

Sleet explained how he was able to get such intimate photographs:

“You’ve got to know when to intrude and when not to intrude and when to pull back. You have to be very patient, a thing that’s good for me because I have a lot of patience and don’t mind waiting – the thing is to get the editors to wait.”

His point of view was always present in his photography, contrary to the expectations of objective photojournalism.

I must say that I wasn't there as an objective reporter. To be perfectly honest I had something to say, or, at least hoped that I did, and was trying to show one side of it - because we didn't have any problems finding the other side. So I was emotionally involved. That may not be good school of journalism, but that's the way I felt.

Marriage and Children

Sleet married his wife Juanita in 1950 and had two sons and one daughter:

Gregory Sleet a judge who used to be on the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, who married Mary K Grantham

Lisa Sleet

Michael Sleet.

Sleet was also a member of Sigma Pi Phi, the oldest African-American Greek-lettered organization, along with MLK. He was a part of an overseas press club so he took a lot of pictures of international world leaders.

1950 Census In the 1950 census Moneta (age 56), Business Mgr, was the married head of household in Owensboro, Daviess, Kentucky, United States.^[14]

Death and Burial

Sleet, while a resident of Baldwin, New York, died of cancer at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center on September 30, 1996.

Moneta Sleet Jr. born 14 Feb 1926 in Owensboro, KY, to Moneta HJ Sleet and Ozella L Allensworth died (age 70) on 30 September 1996. He had resided in Baldwin, Nassau, New York, United States. ^[15]

He had a staff written obituary in the New York Times, Moneta Sleet Jr., 70, Civil Rights Era Photographer, Dies, By Robert Mcg. Thomas Jr. Oct. 2, 1996. ^[16]

Moneta Sleet Jr., who brought his camera to a revolution and ended up capturing many of the images that defined the struggle for racial equality in the United States and Africa.

The obituary noted his survivors:

He is survived by his wife, Juanita; two sons, Gregory, the United States Attorney for Delaware, who lives in Wilmington, and Michael, who lives in a group home for the retarded in Bayville, L.I.; a daughter, Lisa, of Baldwin; a sister, Emmy Lou Wilson of Detroit, and three grandchildren.

An obituary also ran in the. Washington Post^[17]

Research Notes

This profile is a work in progress, and needs sources for many of the presented information. Where no source citation exists, at least 2-3 sources refer to the facts. However source citation is always welcome, if you feel like searching.

Also welcome is the work of connecting this notable to the world tree.

Sources

1. ↑ Wikipedia: Moneta Sleet Jr.
2. ↑ Birth: "Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999"
   , citing Birth, Kentucky, United States, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort
   FamilySearch Record: QKH2-8F8M (accessed 1 February 2024)
   Mineta J Sleet born on 14 Feb 1926, child of Ozetta Allensworth, in Kentucky, United States.
3. ↑ 1930 Census: "United States Census, 1930"
   citing Affiliate Name: The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Affiliate Publication Number: T626; Line: 43; Digital film/folder number: 004950742; FHL microfilm: 2340476; Image number: 833; Sheet number: 4; Sheet letter: A; Packet letter: A; Indexing batch: N03759-3
   FamilySearch Record: XM6C-GD3 (accessed 1 February 2024)
   FamilySearch Image: 33SQ-GR4G-W2L
   Moneta J Sleet, Jr, Jr (4), single son, in household of Moneta J Sleet (37) in Owensboro, Daviess, Kentucky, United States. Born in Kentucky.
4. ↑ 1940 Census: "United States Census, 1940"
   citing Affiliate Publication Number: T627; Line: 64; Digital film/folder number: 005460604; Image number: 380; Sheet number: 14; Sheet letter: B
   FamilySearch Record: K7RJ-FMK (accessed 1 February 2024)
   FamilySearch Image: 3QS7-89M1-QHF7
   Moneta T Sleet (14), single son, in household of Moneta J Sleet (47) in Magisterial District 1, Daviess, Kentucky, United States. Born in Kentucky.
5. ↑ Kentucky State Univeristy Notable Alumni
6. ↑ US WW II Army Enlistment for Moneta Sleet
7. ↑ University of Maryland Eastern Shore - Moneta J. Sleet Jr.
8. ↑ OMFA Moneta J Sleet Jr
9. ↑ SLAM Collection Sleet
10. ↑ Getty News
11. ↑ NMAAHC 75 Years Ebony Magazine
12. ↑ BBC Sounds Episode "Witness History: Photographing Martin Luther King Jr."
13. ↑ Goodreads, The Photographs of Moneta Sleet, Jr.
14. ↑ 1950 Census: "United States 1950 Census"
    citing Page: 7; Line: 3; Digital film/folder number: 109020061; Image number: 8
    FamilySearch Record: 6FQ1-CQJC (accessed 1 February 2024)
    FamilySearch Image: 3QHK-SQHW-BGYH
    Moneta J Sleet (56), married, Business Mgr, head of household in Owensboro, Daviess, Kentucky, United States. Born in New York.
15. ↑ Death: "United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007"
    citing Digital film/folder number: DI0001099
    FamilySearch Record: 6KQP-2FH9 (accessed 1 February 2024)
    Moneta John Sleet death 30 Sep 1996 (born 14 Feb 1926).
16. ↑ NY Times Obituary
17. ↑ Prize Winning Photographer Moneta J Sleet Jr died at 70

• "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKW1-9VC1 : accessed 25 May 2021), Moneta J Sleet Jr, Kentucky, United States, 02 Oct 1996; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, born-digital text.
• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V98Z-3WT : 9 January 2021), Moneta J Sleet, 30 Sep 1996; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
• "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:241F-Q85 : 2 March 2021), Moneta J Sleet, 1952; citing Immigration, New York City, New York, United States, NARA microfilm publication T715 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8PW-WLN : 5 December 2014), Moneta J Jr Sleet, enlisted 21 Sep 1944, Louisville, Kentucky, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
• "Kentucky, Vital Record Indexes, 1911-1999," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKH2-8F8M : 11 February 2018), Mineta J Sleet, 1926; citing Birth, Daviess, Kentucky, United States, Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, Frankfort.
• https://www.bbc.com/ Moneta Sleet: The great black photographer you've never heard of By Farhana Haider

BBC News Published28 October 2019

• https://books.google.com/books?id=ADkDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA12#v=onepage&q&f=false
• https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/308
• https://www.blackpast.org