Arts & Culture

Civil Rights Photography Then and Now

On the fiftieth anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death, an exhibition at Atlanta’s High Museum of Art in 2018 pulled together some of the most powerful images of the Civil Rights Movement

 

“A Fire That No Water Could Put Out” derived its name from King’s “Mountaintop Speech,” his final address the day before his assassination on April 4, 1968, and included more than forty prints from the High’s collection of civil rights photography, both past and present. “We wanted to bring out classic iconic imagery and connect it to what’s going on today,” said the exhibition’s curator, Erin Nelson.

 

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Gordon Parks (American, 1912–2006), Outside Looking In, Mobile, Alabama, 1956.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of The Gordon Parks Foundation.

Unknown Photographer, Elizabeth Eckford Entering Central High School, Little Rock, Arkansas, 1957.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchased with funds from Sandra Anderson Baccus in loving memory of Lloyd Tevis Baccus, M.D.

Charles Moore (American, 1931–2010), Martin Luther King Jr. Arrested, Montgomery, Alabama, 1958.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchased with funds from Lucinda W. Bunnen for the Bunnen Collection.

Bill Hudson (American, 1932–2010), Police Dog Attack, Birmingham, Alabama, 1963.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchased with funds from Sandra Anderson Baccus in loving memory of Lloyd Tevis Baccus, M.D.

 

Steve Schapiro (American, born 1936), Freedom Bus Riders, Summer of ’64, Oxford, Ohio, 1964.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchased with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust.

Charles Moore (American, 1931–2010), Freedom Singing, Selma, Alabama, 1965.

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchased with funds from Sherri and Jess Crawford in honor of John Lewis.

Benedict J. Fernandez (American, born 1936), Memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Central Park, New York City, 1968.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, gift of Gloria and Paul Sternberg.

James E. Hinton (American, 1936–2006), James Baldwin and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the W.E.B. DuBois Centennial Celebration, Carnegie Hall, New York, 1968.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchased with funds from Jan P. and Warren J. Adelson.

Ernest Withers (American, 1922–2007), Sanitation Workers Strike, Memphis, Tennessee, March 28, 1968, 1968.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchased with funds from the Director’s Circle.

Doris Derby (American, born 1939), Grass Roots Organizer, Mississippi, 1968.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchased with funds from Jeff and Valerie Levy.

Doris Derby (American, born 1939), L. C. Dorsey, Civil Rights Worker from Shelby, Mississippi, at the Vegetable Cooperative, Ruleville, Mississippi, 1968.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchased with funds from Jeff and Valerie Levy.

Steve Schapiro (American, born 1936), Dr. Martin Luther King’s Motel Room after He Was Shot, Memphis, Tennessee, 1968.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchased with funds from the H. B. and Doris Massey Charitable Trust.

Burk Uzzle (American, born 1938), MLK Funeral street scene with National Guard, Atlanta, 1968.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

Burk Uzzle (American, born 1938), Spectators at MLK Funeral, Atlanta, 1968.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

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Burk Uzzle (American, born 1938), Crowd with Horse Drawn Casket in Atlanta Funeral of MLK, Atlanta, 1968.

 

High Museum of Art, Atlanta.

David Alekhuogie (American, born 1986), Birth Home, 2013.

 

Courtesy of the artist.

Sheila Pree Bright (American, born 1967), #1960Now_Ferguson_protest: National March in Ferguson, “We Can’t Stop” Mike Brown, Ferguson, MO March 2015, 2015.

 

Courtesy of the artist.