COURTESY J. T. JOHNATHAN FAMILY | One of the old scenes of Bay Shore on display at the Historical Society in Riverhead.

Suffolk County Historical Society in Riverhead opened an exhibit of unusual family photographs last night in honor of Black History month.

The exhibit features the work of photographer James T. Johnathan (1887-1966), a pioneering African-American entrepreneur who documented the diverse hamlet of Bay Shore for more than a half a century.

James T. Johnathan

His work was brought to light by Susan Barbash in a film she produced, ‘The Bay  Shore Story … a Small Piece of the World,” in 2009. She said the movie was intended to capture the community, which she said was segregated although diverse.

Mr. Johnathan was a self-taught photographer and a Renaissance man. He was a barber, owner of a mom-and-pop restaurant, a musician and he led his family’s musical group called “Johnathan and His Rhythm Stars.”

His six children performed at the 1939 World Fair and the Apollo Theater.

He moved to Bay Shore in 1916 from Harlem with his wife Lucy and lived there until his death in 1966. He was Bay Shore’s official photographer for the school district, and photographed weddings, portraits and civic events.

His grandson Kent Johnathan of Riverside, a high school teacher in Bay Shore, said he was thrilled with the exhibit. “I never thought it would come to here- from Bay Shore to Hempstead and now to Riverhead.’

The photographs on display are a sampling from 120 images in the Johnathan’s family’s private collection. They are on display at SCHS until February 29.

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Black History exhibit

James T. Johnathan

Black History exhibit

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Kent Johnathan of Riverside looks at his grandfather's photos with his mother Ophelia, who was married to James Johnathan's youngest son Charles.

Black History exhibit

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Photographer Stu McCallum of Ridge and Ray German of Huntington take a closer look at the images.

Black History exhibit

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Kent Johnathan of Riverside with the scrapbook his family put together of his grandfather's mementos. It opens with a poem his grandfather wrote.

Black History exhibit

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Movie producer Susan Babash (left) and Daphine Somerville of Bay Shore look over the scrapbook.

Black History exhibit

Mr. Johnathan with his automobile and an unidentified child, possibly in the early 1920s.

Black History exhibit

Horse drawn carriage in 1939 photo carries a placard for a minstrel show sponsored by the Columbian Republican League as a fundraiser for the American Red Cross.

Black History exhibit

A negro baseball team, the Panther Athletic Club. This team may have taken its name from the Babylon Black Panthers, the first professional Negro League team in the town of Babylon at the turn of the century. In the Village of Babylon to this day all the school athletic teams are called the Panthers after the team formed by the wait staff and bellhops of the Argyle Hotel.

Black History exhibit

James T. Johnathan working in his studio on a photograph of a ‘doughboy’ in the 1920s.

Black History exhibit

Johnathan and His Rhythm Stars: Ethel, Roslyn, Katherine and Kenneth.

Black History exhibit

The social club called the 'Chit Chat Girls' in 1952. A Johnathan relative, Aunt Sadie Gwynn, is on the far left.

Black History exhibit

The Johnathan Photo Studio located on West Union Street in Bay Shore. Mr. Johnathan opened the studio shortly after arriving in Bay Shore in 1916. It remained in operation until a few years after Mr. Johnathan’s death in 1966.

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