Augusta Savage
Publications
Issue 01
Augusta Savage: Unveiling the Saugerties Years (1945–1961)
By Dr. La Tasha A. Brown
Gallery
Augusta Savage shaping a small clay animal figure by hand. Modeling in clay was her earliest medium, dating to her childhood in Florida.
Augusta Savage, Wesley Calvin Finger, 1953. Signed “Compliments of Augusta Savage, 1953.” Private collection, Saugerties, New York. Shown in the 2018 exhibition Lift Every Voice at the Saugerties Historical Society. Image courtesy of Bruce Weber.
Augusta Savage, Red Clay Horse, 1953. The Lois Finger Kimble Collection, Saugerties, New York.
Augusta Savage, Lois Finger Kimble, 1953. Height 21 in. Signed “To Lois / Compliments of Augusta Savage.” The Lois Finger Kimble Collection, Saugerties, New York. Image courtesy of Bruce Weber.
Augusta Savage, The Harp (Lift Every Voice and Sing), 1939.
Augusta Savage, Gamin, 1929. A portrait of her nephew, Ellis Ford. Savage-Gamin (1929).
Augusta Savage’s home in Saugerties. Source: National Register of Historic Places
Augusta Savage Home, 189 Old Route 32, Saugerties, New York. Photograph: Karlyn Knaust Elia, October 2000. Source: National Register of Historic Places application, prepared by Karlyn Knaust Elia, Saugerties Town Historian.
Studio, Augusta Savage Home and Studio, 189 Old Route 32, Saugerties, New York. Source: National Register of Historic Places
Left: her bust of W.E.B. DuBois, presented to the library, April 30, 1923. Right: “Famous Artists Draw Color Line Against Student,” New York World, April 5, 1923, reporting the withdrawal of her Fontainebleau scholarship.
Florida Girl Shows Amazing Gift for Sculpture,” The Negro World, December 16, 1922. The article recounts her Florida beginnings; the photograph shows Savage at work on a bust of Marcus Garvey.
Gwendolyn Bennett, Sara West, Louise Jefferson, Augusta Savage, and Eleanor Roosevelt, 1937. The New York Public Library/Schomburg Center.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Atonement, interior, Saugerties, c. 1959.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Atonement, Saugerties, c. 1959.
The Augusta Savage House and Studio today. Photos courtesy of Anthony Elia.
The National Register plaque at the house. Photos courtesy of Anthony Elia.
Commemorative bookmark from the dedication, 2000. Saugerties Public Library.
Invitation to the dedication ceremony, April 5, 2000. Saugerties Public Library.
H. Carl McCall, New York State Comptroller, and Lorraine Lucas, Savage’s step-granddaughter, at the dedication of Augusta Savage Road, April 5, 2000. Lucas donated most of the artwork Savage left to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.
Further Reading
Selected Scholarship & Institutional Foundations
Curated to bridge rigorous academic research with community-engaged public history, the following scholarship, institutional foundations, and primary collections trace the enduring regional and national legacy of Augusta Savage.
I. Primary Scholarship & Critical Essays
Peer-reviewed studies, critical texts, and scholarly interventions that anchor historical accuracy and engage community memory.
Brown, La Tasha A. “Unveiling the Later Years: Harlem Renaissance Sculptor Augusta Savage in Saugerties, 1945–1961.” The Hudson River Valley Review: A Journal of Regional Studies (forthcoming Fall 2026).
Bey, Sharif. “Augusta Savage: Sacrifice, Social Responsibility, and Early African American Art Education.” Studies in Art Education 58, no. 2 (2017): 125–40.
Bibby, Deirdre L., ed. Augusta Savage and the Art Schools of Harlem. Exhibition catalog. New York: Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library, 1988.
II. Foundational Biographies & Monographs
Definitive art-historical volumes mapping her artistic mastery, pedagogical leadership, and institutional impact across national collections.
Farrington, Lisa E. Creating Their Own Image: The History of African American Women Artists. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Hayes, Jeffreen M. Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman. London: D. Giles Limited in association with the Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens, 2018.
Leininger-Miller, Theresa. New Negro Artists in Paris: African American Painters and Sculptors in the City of Light, 1922–1934. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001.
III. Archival Repositories & Digital Resources
Core institutional archives, period documentation, and accessible media preserving her historical footprint for public education and study.
The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, New York Public Library.
Augusta Savage Papers, 1926–1987. Sc MG 731. Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division. (The cornerstone repository containing correspondence, press scrapbooks, and personal papers documenting her career phases.)
Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). “Augusta Savage: Luce Artist Biography.” Smithsonian Institution. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/augusta-savage-4269.
Period Press and Public Documentation (1923–1960s). Selected contemporary newspaper and periodical coverage documenting public arts advocacy, exhibitions, and institutional milestones.
Mid-Hudson Valley Regional and Municipal Historical Records (c. 1945–1961). Standard historical documentation establishing residency timelines, civic presence, and community engagement in Ulster County.
Searching for Augusta Savage. Directed by Charlotte Mangin and Sandy Rattley. Produced by Mariana Surillo. PBS American Masters Short, 2024. Digital video, 15 min. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/searching-for-augusta-savage/31521/.