Allan Rohan Crite was a world renowned artist who grew up in Boston’s South End in the early part of the 20th century. After enrolling in the Children’s Art Center and graduating from English High, he attended the MFA School and graduated in 1936. His work was first shown at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 1936 and his first solo show at the Boston Athaneaum was in 1948. He went on to work at the Charlestown Navy Yard for over thirty years, while his paintings drew local and then national and international attention. During this time, he attended Harvard Extension School, where he earned an ALB degree in 1968. Looking at all of these experiences together, Allan Rohan Crite truly was a son of Boston, his work opening a window on the experience of Black Bostonians in the 30s, 40s, and beyond. If you are a lover of Boston history, you won’t want to miss the special exhibition of his work on view at the Boston Athenaeum through January 24 and at the Isabella Stuart Gardener Museum through January 19th. In this episode, Michelle Leblanc from the Athenaeum joins us to discuss the two wonderful exhibitions Crite’s work that are on display in Boston right now and what we can learn about Boston history from them.

Full show notes: http://HUBhistory.com/343/

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Allan Rohan Crite: Griot of Boston and Urban Glory

Michelle LeBlanc is the Director of Education at the Boston Athenaeum. She previously served as Director of Education for a decade at the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library. She has over 20 years of experience in museums, libraries and classrooms, teaching history and designing collaborative programming for varied audiences, and she has worked across a variety of historical sites, from Old South Meeting House and the Paul Revere House to Historic New England.

Griot of Boston at the Athenaeum
Urban Glory at the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum
Allan Rohan Crite: Neighborhood Liturgy, the companion book
Our past episode about the Children’s Art Center
Our public domain header image is Allan Rohan Crite’s, “School’s Out,” 1936, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from General Services Administration, 1971