Robert A.
Sengstacke
(1943-2017)
Savior's Day Attendee, 1965, printed 1988; gelatin silver print, 13-1/2 x 8-1/2 inches (image), margins. Written on verso in pencil: This photograph was taken by Robert Abbott Sengstacke during the Saviors Day gathering, during the late 60's in Chicago at the Richard Jones Armory. Lab printed by the photographer--and signed by Sengstacke.
Savior's Day, 1966, printed 1988; gelatin silver print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet), signed and dated; stamped (Amalgamated Publishers). Female Nation of Islam attendees during Saviour's Day celebrations at the International Ampitheatre, Chicago, Illinois, February 27, 1966.
untitled, 1965, printed 1988; gelatin silver print 11 x 14 inches (sheet), signed and dated; stamped (Amalgamated Publishers).
A Screen Scene (Chicago), 1964; gelatin silver print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet), signed and dated; stamped (Amalgamated Publishers).
Untitled, 1967, printed 1988; silver print, 14 x 11 inches (sheet), signed and dated; stamped (Amalgamated Publishers).
James Baldwin Speaks in Montgomery March, 1964, printed 1988; gelatin silver print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet), signed and dated;stamped (Amalgamated Publishers).
Marching to Montgomery, 1965, printed 1988; silver print, 11 x 14 inches (sheet), signed and dated; stamped (Amalgamated publishers).
Untitled, Portrait of Richard Hunt, 2000; c-print, 19-1/2 x 13 inches (image), signed and dated.
Robert Abbott Sengstacke was an influential photojournalist and documentarian whose work captured the soul of the Civil Rights Movement and the everyday life of Black America with rare empathy and artistry. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Sengstacke was the grandnephew of Robert S. Abbott, founder of The Chicago Defender, and son of John H. Sengstacke, the newspaper’s longtime publisher. Immersed from birth in one of the most important African American media institutions, he grew up surrounded by journalists, artists, and activists committed to advancing racial equality through storytelling and imagery.
Educated at Central State University in Ohio and at Illinois Institute of Technology, Sengstacke began photographing for The Chicago Defender in the 1960s. His early work chronicled the turbulent and transformative years of the Civil Rights era, documenting marches, rallies, and leaders with both historical precision and emotional depth. His portraits of Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin, are among the most intimate and humanizing of these figures ever made.
Sengstacke’s photo essays also celebrated the vibrancy of Black urban life, particularly in Chicago’s South Side, where he photographed local families, Nation of Islam gatherings, and street scenes that revealed dignity, struggle, and resilience. His work is distinguished by its deep sense of community. He was not an outsider observing, but a participant chronicling the rhythm of his own people’s lives.
Sengstacke’s compositions combine journalistic immediacy with formal elegance. His use of light and shadow often imparts a near-spiritual aura to his subjects, transforming moments of social record into symbols of endurance and collective memory. He saw photography as a weapon of truth - what he called “a way to visualize the possibilities of freedom.”
Throughout his career, Sengstacke served as editor and publisher of The Chicago Defender and The Memphis Tri-State Defender, carrying forward his family’s legacy of visual and written advocacy. His images have been featured in Ebony, Jet, The Washington Post, and numerous museum exhibitions, including the Smithsonian Institution and the DuSable Museum of African American History.
In 2017, Sengstacke was posthumously honored for his lifelong contributions to Black media and photojournalism. His photographs remain both a historical archive and a deeply human portrait of 20th-century Black America - poetic, fearless, and unflinchingly real.
Selected Exhibitions
BOBBY SENGSTACKE, Chicago Public Library, South Park / 35th St. Branch, IL, 1968
ROBERT SENGSTACKE, Chicago Public Library, IL, 1969
Tradition and Conflict: Images of a Turbulent Decade 1963-1973, Studio Museum in Harlem, NY, 1985
Two Schools: New York and Chicago - Contemporary African-American Photography of the 60s and 70s, Kenkeleba House, NY, 1986
On Freedom: The Art of Photojournalism: 5 Photographers, Studio Museum in Harlem, NY, 1986
In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI, 2002
We Shall Overcome: Photographs from the American Civil Rights Era, Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, Austin, TX, 2002
Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Celebration of Black Prayer, Schomburg Center For Research in Black Culture, NY, 2003
1968: Art and Politics in Chicago, DePaul University Art Museum, Chicago, IL, 2008
ROBERT SENGSTACKE, President's Gallery, Chicago State University, IL, 2010
CAAAP: A Ten Year Retrospective, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Chicago, IL, 2010
Our Lives Begin to End the Day We Become Silent About Things That Matter” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Panopticon Gallery of Photography, Boston, MA, 2010
Witness: Art and Civil Rights in the Sixties, Brooklyn Museum of Art, NY, 2014
Never a Lovely So Real: Photography and Film in Chicago, 1950–1980, Art Institute of Chicago, IL, 2018
ReSOURCE: Art and Resourcefulness in Black Chicago, South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, IL, 2024; Sengstacke’s collection was included in the exhibition materials.
Invisible to Whom? Selections from the Robert A. Sengstacke Archive, University of Chicago, Regenstein Library, Chicago, IL, 2025