Milton Rogovin papers, 1928-2006

Title Page | Collection Summary | Biographical/Organizational Note | Scope and Content | Arrangement

Biographical Note

Date	Event
1909, Dec. 30	Born, New York, N.Y.
1931	B.S. in optometry, Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
1932-1938	Optometrist, New York, N.Y., attended classes at the New School for Social Research, New York, N.Y.
1938	Moved first to Niagara Falls, N.Y., and then to Buffalo, N.Y. Charter member, United Optical Workers Local Union Member, American League Against War and Fascism, and fund-raiser in support of the Republican forces in Spain
1939	Opened his own optometry practice, Buffalo, N.Y.
1942	Married Anne Setters (died 2003)
1942-1945	Served in the U.S. Army as an optometrist, 1944-1945, stationed in England
1944-1962	Anne and Milton Rogovin under Federal Bureau of Investigation surveillance for their political activities
1945	Returned to Buffalo, N.Y., and his optometry practice
1953-1957	Intermittent travels to Mexico, first serious photographic work
1957	Summoned before the House Committee on Un-American Activities Invited by William Tallmadge, a music professor, Rogovin began photographing African American storefront churches, Buffalo, N.Y.
1961	Began photographing Buffalo, N.Y.'s East Side community
1962-1971	Frequent trips to Appalachia to make photographs
1967	Traveled to Chile to make photographs and to collaborate with Pablo Neruda
1972	M.A. in American Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y. Began photographic documentation of Lower West Side of Buffalo, N.Y. Traveled to Soviet Union but was stymied in his attempt at photographic work
1972-1974	Teacher of social documentary photography, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, N.Y.
1975	First major exhibition, “Milton Rogovin: Lower West Side, Buffalo, New York,” Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, N.Y. Published Milton Rogovin: Lower West Side, Buffalo, New York / James N. Wood; with an appreciation by Paul Strand. Buffalo, N.Y.: Albright-Knox Gallery
1976	Began “Working People” series
1978	Retired from optometry to work full time in photography
1981-1990	Traveled to France, Scotland, Spain, Cuba, China, Germany, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Czechoslovakia, and Appalachia to make photographs for his “Family of Miners” series.
1985	Published Milton Rogovin: The Forgotten Ones / interview by Cheryl Brutvan; with essays by Robert J. Doherty and Fred Licht. Seattle: University of Washington Press Published Windows that Open Inward: Images of Chile / photographs by Milton Rogovin; poems by Pablo Neruda; edited by Dennis Maloney; introduction by Pablo Neruda. Buffalo, N.Y.: White Pine Press
1992-1994	Returned to the Lower West Side of Buffalo, N.Y., to complete his “Triptychs,” images of individuals and families taken over the course of twenty years
1993	Published Portraits in Steel / Photographs by Milton Rogovin; Interviews by Michael Frisch. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press
1994	Published Triptychs: Buffalo's Lower West Side Revisited / photographs by Milton Rogovin; foreword by Robert Coles; introduction by Stephen Jay Gould; text by JoAnn Wypijewski. New York: W.W. Norton Honorary doctorate, State University of New York at Buffalo and Buffalo State College, Buffalo, N.Y.
1997	Due to low vision from cataracts, sold his Rolleiflex camera and began writing his autobiography
2000	After successful cataract surgery, bought back his camera and returned to Lower West Side of Buffalo, N.Y., to interview and photograph subjects from his earlier “Triptychs” series
2003	Exhibit of the Lower West Side “Quartets” Published Milton Rogovin: The Forgotten Ones / [with] Dave Isay, David Miller and Harvey Wang. New York: Quantuck Lane Press
2004	Published With Eyes and Soul: Images of Cuba / poems by Nancy Morejón: photographs by Milton Rogovin; edited by Dennis Maloney; translated by Pamela Carmell and David Frye. Buffalo, N.Y.: White Pine Press
2005	Published Milton Rogovin: The Mining Photographs / essay by Judith Keller. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum
2011, Jan. 18	Died, Buffalo, N.Y.