Columbus Caught on Film

Photographer Kojo Kamau's new book shows us how the Cap city used to be

By Jennifer Hambrick

August 2006

 

Veteran photographer Kojo Kamau remembers many things about Columbus.  He remembers when Mt. Vernon Avenue was a thriving business district of the African-American community.  He remembers when downtown Columbus was full of plush movie houses, and when the grand hotels lining Capitol Square gave businessmen, politicians and celebrities shelter on their visits through town.  He remembers when streetcars criss-crossed the Cap city and when men and women put on their best suits and their nicest hats to take a trolley downtown and out into the world.

 

Kamau’s most recent project, Columbus Remembered, unites the Columbus of the past and present in an anthology of photographs of Ohio’s capital from the years 1960 and 2006.  As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and the 28 images of Columbus in Kamau’s book confirm the truth of this adage.  Some depict buildings virtually unaltered by time, while others show a vastly different Columbus from the city that nurtured Kamau into one of its best-known black artists.

 

Kojo Kamau's new book Columbus Remembered is availalble online at www.lulu.com/content/302121

Visit his web site www.kojophotos.com to enjoy a selection of photographs taken in Europe, South America, Africa and North America.

 

More at http://www.shortnorth.com/KojoKamau.html

 

Well I wouldn't exactly call the short north "dead" right now but is remarkable how much it has changed. One thing particularly noticable is the amount of signage they used back then. I think that's an effective marketing tool we should be utilizing more.

That's only if you consider the Short North to be a part of downtown. When I talk about downtown

I'm talking about the part with all the tall buildings, and yes, it's dead. You're right, there really isn't much signage used in Columbus. Look at pics of Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and one thing you won't see is a shortage of big bright signs.

I think KoJo is ColDay's alter-ego.

 

who doesn't love old urban photos???

Is that is the photo that they refer to in the article as being similar to Manhattan?  Because I would definately not consider that shot to be Manhattan-esk (no offense you're just comparing apples to oranges)

Manhattan, Kansas?

Anyone want to post a comparable photo of Manhattan circa 1960?

I'm sure Manhattan's buildings were a lot taller. I wonder if all streets downtown were like that. I'd be interested in seeing Broad Street around that time. The west side where I grew up is just depressing.

I think the Manhatten-esque feel simply refers to any vibrant, bustling, and walkable core-city area (more so than an actual duplication of Manhatten).  I'll never understood how the standard equation for "urbanity" evolved into creating SoHo knock-offs (coffee shops, art galleries, etc.) and carefully orchestrated "organized chaos" (Easton's and the live, work, and play concept comes to mind...ugh!).  I like the pictures on this guy's (poorly designed) website, though.

Man, that guy has an obnoxious website.

I've got one of his photos of Columbus Union Station "back in the day".  Kojo is an awesome photog.

Those are some revealing photos of our city as it was, and the website design makes me nostalgic for the year 1996. I also noticed how much more effort people put into their appearance in 1960.

You know, I think that is a byproduct of living in a city. Being mostly suburban, people here aren't in front of people all the time and don't feel the need to look nice. What's the point when you shop at walmart and eat out at red lobster? In European cities people also are more concious of how they look and this probably explains why they have affordable fashionable clothes.

You know, I think that is a byproduct of living in a city. Being mostly suburban, people here aren't in front of people all the time and don't feel the need to look nice. What's the point when you shop at walmart and eat out at red lobster? In European cities people also are more concious of how they look and this probably explains why they have affordable fashionable clothes.

 

Heh. I was in the middle of nowhere Wisconsin and me and my uncle were about to go to some car dealer in their small town and I'm like hold on; I need to shave. He said "you don't need to shave, this is a hick town". I never go anywhere without putting on half a can of axe body spray, hair gel, and shaving. I guess I'm way too "metro".

Here are some interesting pics from even farther back of Broad & High from the Ohio Historical Society's website:

 

1910-1920 (north High from Broad)

 

1916 (from the south looking north up High)

 

1921 (from the north looking south down High)

 

Note the streetcars.  :-D

 

And down west Broad is the Wyandotte Building.

*cries*

^ I hear ya. We're just starting to turn things around so it's going to be several years before we have anything close to that kind of hustle and bustle. I also like the look better than the drab and/or austere buildings that dominate downtown today. Right now Columbus, like some people, look their best with minimal lighting.

 

We used to have a Kroger downtown!

 

That tall building on the right hand side in the back is the Atlas building.  She's still alive and lookin' beautiful :)

And down west Broad is the Wyandotte Building.

 

This fella is still standing too.  My State Farm agent works on the first floor :)

You know, I think that is a byproduct of living in a city. Being mostly suburban, people here aren't in front of people all the time and don't feel the need to look nice. What's the point when you shop at walmart and eat out at red lobster? In European cities people also are more concious of how they look and this probably explains why they have affordable fashionable clothes.

 

No.

The trend away from "dressing up" (or towards "dressing down") was part of the American cultural revolution of the 1960s when our parents generation (or just point at David, Rob, and Ithica here) rebelled against the norms of society (among other things).  It was our parents who made the point that clothes don't make the person who they are.  And that idea has floated and morphed into the clothing habits of many today.

 

It's not a spacial debate, more a beliefs debate.

The gradual desegregation of America during the civil rights movement opened up to African-Americans places from which blacks once had been arbitrarily banned. On the other hand, this relative racial openness, along with a host of other cultural factors, had the effect of decimating areas like the Mt. Vernon Avenue business district, leaving in its place only a sense of nostalgia for a lost community.

 

There seems to be little way to reconcile the disturbing conflict of longing for a past that essentially forced black Columbusites to establish their own businesses and a more open present that has erased a once-thriving aspect of African-American culture in our city. Kamau’s approach is to believe in the real possibilities of having the best of both worlds: for more African-Americans to take advantage of the greater opportunities the comparative openness of today’s world offers them to rebuild a thriving black business community.

 

It wasn't just in Columbus.  With the end of segregation in the 60s, blacks did use their "freedom" to shop and explore "white" retail areas and in turn abandoned their former homes, while whites never felt that need to see or shop at black stores (Elvis Presley withstanding).  I get to address that issue (in passing) in my thesis concerning Beale St in Memphis and Farish St in Jackson, Mississippi.  Both streets were the home of their respective black commercial districts.  Both became slums in the 1970s and both are being rebuilt for "white tourist" $$$ (for timeline sake, Beale St was burned out before the 60s ended, and was rebuilt by 1983, and was a model for other cities to follow by 1990.  Farish St. in Jackson became a slum in the early 80s and 20 years later is only now starting to be rebuilt)

 

Columbus could do something similar with Mt. Vernon Ave. but would need original or authintic looking buildings.  Something I don't see those with $$$ and/or political clout wanting to persue.