The Family of Man… and Women
Migrant Mother California Lange 1936
“The purpose of these pages is twofold.
To serve as a remembrance of our happy times in the past and of our own search for ourselves.
To serve as a message of hope for a successful life in every respect in the future.
“A past and a future—both tied together by the present—not only the present, but love—without which neither the past nor the future would exist.”— Judy Rand and Sue Latham, inscribed in The Family of Man, probably written in 1964 and given as a gift at our graduation from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the Women’s College of the University of North Carolina at that time.
The Family of Man was a photographic exhibition of 503 photographs from 68 countries, created by Edward Steichen for the Museum of Modern Art in 1955. The exhibit toured the world, drawing record-breaking crowds for eight years. The book from the exhibit became an instant success and has never been out of print.
My husband directs the archaeology of our past memories from our basement and recently brought me this photographic book from The Family of Man exhibition to consider giving to one of our granddaughters for graduation.
It is the perfect gift to pass on. Zoe will not know Judy Rand and Sue Latham, who gifted the book to me. But the book will always carry the inscribed love of these two dear college friends from my dorm. Unfortunately, in the intervening years, I had lost touch with Judy and Sue. However, my hope is that the inscription from Judy and Sue in the book will carry the love of friends who changed my life and may also bring meaning to Zoe at a similar age in her adventures, more than half a century later.
We all have a call: to continue treasuring the love we received from friends and to pass that love on as best we can. This copy of The Family of Man is a treasured, visible tradition that makes this possible. Discussing the photographs in the book with my granddaughter and talking about the friends who gifted it will be another way—simply spending time together in the present moment, remembering the past, and looking to the future. A sacred time.
A wonderful postscript. Judy Rand and I recently reconnected on Facebook. She is still the amazing person I once knew. After many years in academia, she is now an artist and musician living in West Virginia.
judy rand
Joanna joannaseibert.com