ABSTRACT
The notion that association with Albert Barnes involved some degree of risk arose from the assessments Philadelphia gentlemen made in the privacy of their clubs about the chances institutions dealing with the collector might have for public embarrassment on account of his combative nature. The mass northward migration of Southern blacks during and after World War I roiled white prejudice. Barnes provided financial support to black organizations and enjoyed cordial, albeit complex, relationships with several of the leading figures of the Harlem Renaissance. The stark, black-and-white drawings with African motifs he made for The New Negro came to be regarded as the archetypal visual expression of the Harlem Renaissance. Barnes subsequently sought information from Locke about contemporary black writers in connection with an article he was preparing for Ex Libris, the journal of the American Library in Paris. Barnes then considered repeating some variant of the Polish field investigation in the black community.
