Celebrities, athletes, private collectors and other wealthy individuals have expressed interest in acquiring the archives of Ebony and Jet magazines, said an adviser marketing the collection of photographs, artwork and recordings documenting decades of African-American life and culture, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. The archives, appraised in 2015 at $46 million, are set to be auctioned in mid-July, months after the magazines’ former publisher — Johnson Publishing Co. — filed for bankruptcy. Large corporations, museums and family offices also have expressed interest in the collection, said Hilco Streambank Chief Executive Gabe Fried, who is marketing the archives on behalf of a bankruptcy trustee. The archives include nearly 1 million photographs and more than 3 million negatives and slides, as well as audio and video recordings, according to Hilco Streambank. The collection includes images of notable figures including Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Nina Simone, Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr., court papers say.
