The Birmingham Museum of Art has launched a public appeal to locate missing artworks by Corietta Mitchell, the first Black artist to receive a solo exhibition at the institution during the Jim Crow era. Staged quietly in March 1963 just months before the repeal of local segregation ordinances, the exhibition is documented only by a checklist and a single grainy photograph. As the museum celebrates its 75th anniversary, officials are seeking to recover these works to address a significant gap in their institutional archives.
This search reflects a broader movement within the American art world to reckon with histories of exclusion and marginalization. By attempting to recover Mitchell's legacy, the museum is participating in a national trend of institutional transparency and the correction of historical narratives regarding African American artists. The effort highlights the challenges museums face when trying to reconstruct provenance and exhibition histories that were intentionally obscured or undervalued during periods of systemic discrimination.