WASHINGTON — The photo archive of Ebony and Jet magazines chronicling African American history is set to head to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and other institutions.

The Ford Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is buying the archive for $30 million Thursday at an auction to pay off secured creditors of Johnson Publishing.

The foundations plan to donate the archives to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Getty Research Institute and other institutions. A judge in Chicago tentatively approved the deal Thursday.

Lonnie Bunch, the Smithsonian’s secretary, says the institutions “will ensure these images, stories and the history of these publications are well preserved and available to the public and future generations.”

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