Carroll Greene, 75, African-American art expert dies
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A noted cultural historian and lecturer has died.
The body of Carroll Greene, 75, was discovered on Wednesday in his
home on Greene Square.
Greene lectured and published widely on the work of African- American
artists. He curated num-erous exhibitions and was the driving force
behind the Acacia Collection, a wide-ranging assortment of African-
American artifacts including arts and crafts, furniture, pottery,
musical instruments, quilts and tools.
Part of the collection can be seen at Savannah's Owens-Thomas House in
the museum's slave quarters. More pieces are at the Telfair Academy of
Arts and Sciences.
Dr. Walter O. Evans, one of the nation's foremost collectors of
African-American art, said that Greene "was extremely important. He
was a giant in the field, a leading proponent of African-American art
long before it was a fashionable thing to do. He was someone whose
opinion I deeply respected."
Tania Sammons, curator of the Owens-Thomas House, called Greene "one
of my favorite people to work with. He was a very gentle man and very
knowledgeable. It was always a good day when Carroll came by."
Greene began a fellowship in Museum Studies at the Smithsonian
Institution in 1968. While at the Smithsonian, he played a vital role
in adding to the museum's previously meager collection of African-
American artifacts. He also conducted oral history interviews with
such noted African-American artists as Jacob Lawrence.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Greene privately purchased numerous
African-American artifacts, securing them from destruction or neglect.
Those artifacts formed the basis of the Acacia Collection, which he
formally started in 1989.
He also wrote the text for numerous exhibition cata- logs at museums
around the nation. Describing Romare Bearden's major exhibition at New
York's Museum of Modern Art, Greene called Bearden's work "an
affirmation, a celebration, a victory of the human spirit over all the
forces that would oppress it."
Greene also wrote extensively about the works of the Gullah artist
Jonathan Green, which he called "perhaps the most ambitious artistic
expression of Sea Islands culture ever successfully undertaken."
During the 1990s, Greene curated several shows at the Beach Institute
in Savannah, including the Ulysses Davis Folk Art Collection. He was
honored for that work with the W.W. Law Legacy Award. He was also the
guest curator at the Beach for "Look Back, Ponder, and Move On:
Glimpses of the African-American Experience in Savannah 1750-1900."
Frank McDonald, a close friend, said "Carroll was one of the most
intelligent people I've ever known. He was well-liked by so many
people, and he touched the lives of so many others. He did so much
with his life."
Another friend, Anne Roise, remembered Greene's sense of humor. "He
could relate to anyone," she recalled, "whether he ran a museum or was
just someone on the street."
Roise said friends were planning a memorial tribute. Efforts to reach
family members continued Thursday.
Doug Wyatt | Friday, June 1, 2007