The archive of Ebony and Jet magazines, containing more than 4 million photographs, will be distributed among a number of cultural institutions, including the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Getty Research Institute.
Johnson Publishing’s historic archive was purchased by the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and The J. Paul Getty Trust for $30 million. The purchase is pending court approval because it was part of the auction of Johnson Publishing’s assets after the company filed for bankruptcy, according to