Seize the Time: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A 33 1/3 rpm LP record album, Valut SLP-131, titled "Seize the Time" by Elaine Brown. The front of the album cover features a depiction of a person dressed in purple and carrying a gun. Above the gun, white text on a purple background reads: [SEIZE / THE / TIME / ELAINE BROWN]. Along the bottom edge of the front of the cover there are black and white images of a Black Panther member holding a flag with the depiction of Elaine Brown, facing a group of children. There is a Vault Records logo in the bottom right. The front cover has several inscriptions of letters and number handwritten in black ink throughout and a sale sticker in the bottom left. The back of the album cover has an image of Elaine Brown highlighted in blue and red white a gray text that reads: [seize the time! / ELAINE BROWN / BLACK PANTHER PARTY]. The album has white and red label that includes the Vault logo, name of the album, and a list of tracks on both sides one and two.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1969
• Published by: Vault, American, 1963 - 1972
• Recorded by: Elaine Brown, American, born 1943
• Subject of: Black Panther Party, American, 1966 - 1982
• Type: record covers
• Type: long-playing records
• Medium: vinyl, cardboard, paper, ink
• Dimensions: Diameter (disc): 12 in. (30.5 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (cardboard sleeve): 12 3/8 x 12 3/8 in. (31.4 x 31.4 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Black power
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Jazz (Music)
• Topic: Soul (Music)
• Topic: Spoken word (Poetry)
• Topic: U.S. History, 1961-1969
• Object number: 2012.88.11ab
• 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.