Milton Rogovin: Native American Series, 1963 – 2002 includes 39 years worth of striking images of Iroquois communities throughout upstate New York, Canada and Buffalo’s Lower West Side. Rogovin’s black and white photographs capture a cross section of Native Americans, young and old, urban and rural, in varied settings, including psychedelic rock and roll culture, an Iroquois social gathering and weathered reservation buildings.

Rogovin has described himself as a photographer of “the forgotten ones.” Subjects of his work have included the struggle of miners in ten countries, the decline of Buffalo and Lackawanna’s once-mighty steel industry, Yemeni families in Lackawanna, and the movement of the Spirit in store-front churches on Buffalo’s East Side.

Born in New York City in 1909, Rogovin moved to Buffalo in 1938 and opened an optometric practice. He became active in Buffalo’s communist party, which led to a hearing before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952 and the Buffalo News branding him “Buffalo’s Top Red.” Despite the devastating effects of a public blacklisting, Rogovin refused to be silenced and, instead, turned to photography to give a greater voice to the cause of the working class.

Rogovin’s work is included in the Library of Congress, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, and the Center for Creative Photography in Tucson, Arizona.

Milton Rogovin: Native American Series, 1963 – 2002 was curated by Cynthia Conides, acting executive director of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society; Allan Jamieson, director of Neto Hatinakwe Onkwehowe; Kate Koperski, curator of Folk Arts at the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University; and Mark Rogovin, coordinator of the Rogovin Collection.