Rejecting the focus on misery and hopelessness common to Harlem photographers of the time, the Smiths used their cameras to record the achievements of blacks in the face of poverty and discrimination. As photojournalists, they documented important "firsts" for blacks and the significant social movements of their day alongside the everyday life of Harlem: street-corner orators, churchgoers dressed for Easter, children playing in the street.

Their photography and art studio was next to the famed Apollo Theatre. There and wherever their curiosity took them, the Smiths focused their cameras on prominent figures from all areas of public life -- actors, musicians, dancers, artists, sports figures, politicians, businessmen, educators. Drawn from the collection of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Smith family archives, Harlem reproduces more than 140 photographs by these important artists and chroniclers.