Photograph of a theater marquee promoting Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A color photograph captured by Melvin Van Peebles of a movie theater marquee promoting its showing of Van Peebles' film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song. The image depicts the front of the State Theater in Long Beach, California. The theater marquee appears above the ground floor entrance of a multi-story building with a white facade. A circle drive leads up to the entrance, with multiple cars parked along the side. Two individuals can be seen walking towards the ticket booth at the center of entrance. Above is a three-sided marquee with [STATE] at the top. The text on the center panel reads [SWEET SWEETBACK] in large black letters with [WAKE UP AND DIE] in smaller red letters below. On the verso is a handwritten inscription in black ink reading [Long Beach].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: ca. 1971
• Photograph by: Melvin Van Peebles, American, 1932 - 2021
• Type: photographs
• Medium: dye and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. (8.9 x 8.9 cm)
• Place depicted: Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Advertising
• Topic: Blaxploitation films
• Topic: Film
• Topic: Independent films
• Topic: Photography
• Object number: 2012.82.9.1
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.