James A. Porter
Historian
American scholar and artist who helped to establish the field of African-American art history.
He started his career by studying drawing and painting at Howard University. He went on to study at New York's Art Institute and at Paris' Sorbonne and finally received his M.A. in art history from New York University.
His 1943 publication, "Modern Negro Art," was the first comprehensive examination of African-American art.
He was married to Dorothy Burnett, with whom he had a daughter.
He and Willard Hughes Rollings were both prominent scholars.